Maungdaw: Nasaka, Burma’s border security force, has been checking the lists of family members in all quarters of the western border town Maungdaw, and taking photographs of family members in every household, said a teacher in Maungdaw.

“This year the check on the list of family members in Maungdaw is very different from last year because this year the Nasaka is not only checking the list but also taking photographs of all family members in all households,” he said.

During the check, Nasaka collected 2,000 kyat from each household as fees for taking the photographs of family members.

Nasaka has also been checking the lists of family members of the Rakhine community in Maungdaw, which was not done last year.

“Last year, the authorities checked only the list of family members of the Muslim community, not the Rakhine community, but this year Nasaka authorities have checked the lists of the Rakhine community in Maungdaw and are taking photographs of all family members from each household. They also have been forced by Nasaka to pay 2,000 kyat as fees for the photographs,” the teacher said.

The checking of lists and taking of photographs is likely for two reasons; the first is to check for family members that have left to go abroad for work, and the second is to collect the list of all townspeople for the forthcoming referendum to be held after the constitution drafting is complete

“I think it is also a new method of collecting money from local people, by checking the family member list, because many people from Maungdaw have left home for work in the Middle East,” a politician in Maungdaw said.

Nasaka typically extorts large sums of money from families if they are unable to present any family member on the list during the scrutiny.

“If anybody is not present before Nasaka during the checking of the list of family members, the Nasaka threaten to remove the name of the missing people from the family list. At that time, family members may pay bribes of at least 100,000 kyat to Nasaka officials to prevent deletion of the name of the missing person from their family list, the politician said.”

If a missing family member’s name is removed from the family list, they will effectively have their Burmese citizenship revoked and will be unable to regain it. Family members are afraid to have the name of their missing relatives removed from the list, so they pay bribes to the Nasaka forces in order to keep all the names on the list, the politician added.