Forced labour and commandeered vehicles for border fencing

by Nyein Chan

Saturday, 25 April 2009 14:24

Dhaka (Mizzima) – Privately owned vehicles and trucks are being commandeered by the local authorities of Maungdaw and Buthitaung in Arakan State of Burma for the fence building exercise along the Burma-Bangladesh border. The Kyikanpyin, Maungdaw Township based Border Inspection and Command Centre started seizing the vehicles since April 18. Each township has to provide 10 jeeps or trucks to the command centre in rotation. "They provide fuel for these cars but not wages and food for the drivers and conductors. The vehicle owners have to bear all the other expenses," a car owner from Buthidaung told Mizzima. They ordered the vehicles to transport stones that were crushed last month near the border of Buthitaung and Muangdaw townships to the embankment construction site on which  international border fence is to be erected. "They brought only six vehicles from Naypyitaw [the new jungle capital]. It is not enough to complete the building project in time. So the Western Command ordered the Border Inspection and Command Centre [Nasaka] to commandeer vehicles on April 12. But the order was implemented only after Thinygian [water festival]," a person close to the Kyikanpyin Nasaka told Mizzima. Though it is learnt that Naypyitaw instructed that each vehicle owner be paid Kyat 20,000 car owners are getting only half the amount. The seizure of vehicles may last up to one month, he said. Similarly they have summoned 10 men per day from each village along the Burma-Bangladesh border such as from Bandula, Aungthapyay, Khamaukseik, Leikya, Ngakhuya, Aungbala, Ahlethankyaw totaling 40 villages since March 31 promising to pay Kyat 2,000 as daily wage. But on completion of the work, they paid only half of that amount, local people said. "But they only paid Kyat 1,000 on completion of their work on the excuse that the money had not yet been received from the higher authorities. The villagers have to do earthwork in building the embankment in that area," MD. Kashin Ahmed from Ngakhuya village told Mizzima. "The villagers do not want to go to the project site as they are not fully paid by the army. Now I have to send all these men forcibly in turn on the orders of Nasaka," a village chairman said. On the orders of the Tactical Commander from Nasaka, three houses in Myagyichaung village, Maungdaw Township were demolished early this month to provide space for dumping the fencing shipment brought from Rangoon. These house owners were paid Kyat 10,000 each as compensation. The Sittwe based Garrison Engineer is supervising all the border fence construction work. Nasaka has deployed 200 personnel in each area under its command and now they are being reinforced with an additional 100 soldiers sent by the Western Military Command in each area to tackle the situation if Bangladesh creates problems. Earlier, it was heard that the border fence would be built along the entire 300 kilometre long Burma-Bangladesh border. Now, however, they are building the border fence which is about 80 kilometre long from Magyichaung in south of Maungdaw to Bawthala village in north of Maungdaw. < Prev   Next >