AA coerces youth in Lemyethna to carry ammunition between Rakhine and Ayeyarwady
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Phyo/Thant Zin (NP News) - Dec 23
A source familiar with the incident told The Statesman Journal that youths in Lemyethna are being forced to serve as porters by the Arakan Army (AA) to transport ammunition and supplies between Rakhine and Ayeyarwady.
Due to the fighting started by the AA and PDF allied forces in Lemyethna Township on March 16, many residents of 11 village tracts in the area were forced to flee their homes.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the remaining youth in the area are currently being forced by the AA to work as porters to transport local rice to Rakhine State and to carry ammunition from their group in Rakhine State back to Lemyethna Township, where the fighting is currently taking place.
“They asked those people to harvest the rice by hand. They told them to grind the rice there and then take it to their state. They carry rice from the Ayeyarwady. Then, they carry bullets back from the other side. The AA ordered those who remained to harvest the paddy fields left behind by people who had fled, and then took the rice. They later bought the paddy from the fields of those who stayed behind. After that, they repaired the remaining rice mills and milled the rice. The harvested rice was then transported by youths who were forcibly recruited as porters. Those who refused to go had to pay 50,000 kyats,” he said.
In addition, the AA has monopolized the meat and fish from the local livestock industry and is transporting them to Rakhine, so locals are facing high prices when purchasing basic food items, he said.
“They also took away the beef and pork from the area. I heard from the locals living in the areas they controlled that they were given a can of rice a day and sometimes some fish paste. I heard that they had to buy food at a high price. The market price is 1,200 kyats for 10 tical of edible oil here, while they have to pay 3,000 kyats for it. They said that they had to pay 1,000 kyats for a tablet of paracetamol. Some people have escaped. They say that they have to catch fish in the stream and boil it in water. The people who have fled look like they are malnourished,” he added.
In addition, the displaced locals are also working in other areas to make ends meet, he said.
He said, “Those of us who fled are surviving on the little supplies we brought with us, but they have now run out. We are taking whatever temporary work we can find just to get by. The Regional Chief Minister came and said the Union Government would provide 20,000 kyats in assistance, but some people have still not received it. Moreover, it is reported that around 500 households have not received a single kyat up to now.” –