Maungdaw District PDC Chairman U Than Tin and local Immigration Department Chief Major Aung Gyi took No. 5 Ward PDC Chairman U Nidalan to their headquarters in Maungdaw Township on March 24th for questioning.
"For the time being only the Ward No. 5 Chairman is being interrogated. However, we have heard that the crime was not committed by him alone. The local immigration chief and District PDC Chairman are also involved in the case. These people will be interrogated later," a clerk from the Maungdaw PDC office told Mizzima.
U Nidalan is reputed to have taken 20,000 kyat (approx. US$ 20) from each of about 70 Rohingya on January 10, 2009, before sending them across the border to Teknaf in Bangladesh, he added.
However, the accused was later released following questioning.
MD Kamal Hossion from Nyaungchaung village said that the human trafficking victims consisted of 30 people from Musa village, 15 each from Maungnipyin and Shwesa villages and 5 from Maungdaw's No. 5 Ward. They had planned to travel to Malaysia via Bangladesh.
Similarly, a local resident of Sittwe close to the Yechanpyin naval base told Mizzima that another case of extortion occurred on March 9. In this instance, 40 Rohingya were in exchange reportedly told that Sittwe security forces would turn a blind eye to their illegal migration to a foreign country.
"Electrical technician Ko Than Maung, working with the Garrison Engineer Unit in Sittwe, extorted money from these victims by telling the refugees they would let them cross the sea and go to Malaysia if they agreed to pay 200,000 kyat (US$ 200) each," he said.
The 40 Rohingya victims in the latter case, 25 of whom were women, hailed from Thetkepyin, Thechaung and Tapaing villages of Sittwe Township.
After taking a 100,000 kyat advance payment from each victim, the case was exposed and Ko Than Maung later fled Sittwe after police officer Bo Toe Nyunt of the No. 2 Sittwe Police Station began searching for him based on a tip off, a local resident from Sittwe added.
None of the money was recovered.
Moreover, since March 25, local authorities have been conducting a door to door campaign of checking national ID cards and household registration cards in some wards in Maungdaw Township.
"They checked the families against the household registration. They inquired and investigated and they made note if there were some discrepancies in the list and the actual family members. Families had to pay a 3,000 kyat (US$ 3) fine each if they wished to change their household registration card," a local resident of Maungdaw, Ko Tun Kyaw, explained.
The exodus to foreign countries, by all possible means, of Muslims living in Rakhine state of western Burma, has in recent months led to heightened tensions and problems throughout the region.
No comments:
Post a Comment