December 7, 2017
A group of Tatmadaw personal placed their flags on Rohingya owned agricultural fields on Wednesday in Ali Yaung, Southern Buthidaung.
The group led by some mid ranking officers declared that from this moment onwards, this is military property and a ‘cantonment’ will be built on the premises. No one will be allowed to continue cultivation on the 391 acres of land.
The remote track of Ali Yaung was brutally attacked in the last week of August and early September resulting in hundreds of casualties. Children and women were among those killed as Tatmadaw led forces indiscriminately pounded the area with heavy weapons.
The villages in the area lie amidst remote mountainous territory and the army already has a camp set in place. The rough terrain is inhabited by hill tribes (sometimes referred collectively as Mrong) who maintain their distance from the outside world and have previously ignored army orders to settle in villages hitherto inhabited by Rohingya Muslims.
The hill tribes have expressed concerns that as the army turns out Muslims from the area, they might use a strong military base in the Ali Yaung area to impose tighter restrictions on their peaceful lifestyle. Unlike the Mogh community, the hill tribes have constantly refused to take part in anti Rohingya pogroms since 2012 and have maintained their distance from the ‘outside world’.
Meanwhile, it seems that Tatmadaw and their cohorts are gradually taking over agricultural lands that belonged to the Rohingya Muslims, according to people who resided in the area before the army onslaught drove them out in August 2017.
