Maungdaw: One ex-village chairman in Maungdaw Township has been using local people as forced labor on an illegal timber production site with the help of Nasaka authorities, reports an educated Muslim youth from the area.

"The ex-chairman's name is Mr. Marmauk Sweyu. He had forced our fellow Muslim villagers to work at the illegal timber site without any payment. He was partnering with Nasaka officials in smuggling timber to Bangladesh, so he used his power illegally to use people for forced labor," he said.

Mr. Marmauk Sweyu is an ex-Rayaka chairman in the village tract of Kyunt Pauk Pyu Su in northern Maungdaw Township near Bangladesh. He summons villagers from Kyaunt Pauk Sin Oo Village whenever he needs work completed.

"Eight families in Kyaunt Pauk Sin Oo Village were preparing to flee Bangladesh when they were no longer able to tolerate such forced labor by the chairman. They finally gave up their plan to flee to Bangladesh, though, because the Bangladesh authorities are pushing back Burmese Muslims who enter the country illegally," he said.

Many poor villagers have to go to the illegal timber production site every day in a mountain range near Kyaunt Pauk Sin Oo Village to work.

"People in our village do not want to go to the site, but they have to because they are afraid of punishment by Nasaka authorities living at Lake Ra outpost in Nasaka Area No. 4," the source added.

Some people have suffered injuries and have even been killed at the work site, but no compensation for the workers or their families has been provided.

According to a village source, in the first week of this month, one poor man named U Narzu, aged 40, died at the work site, but his family has not yet received any compensation.

"We filed a complaint of the incident at the police station but no action has been taken because the ex-chairman gave a lot of money to police officers as a bribe to close the case. We would like to inform the high authority of the ex-chairman's use of villagers for forced labor, but no one dares do so because the authority can punish them if they complain," he added.

It has also been learned that the ex-chairman is still using villagers for forced labor with the help of Nasaka officials, but there has been no investigation or action against the chairman by higher authorities.

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