“We have to work on the plantation without any wage, but the authority told us they will allocate some land from the rubber plantation for those who are working, for after the work is completed,” the villager said.

Villagers from Vasali model village located on the outskirts of Maungdaw are now being summoned by the local village council every day, on the orders of District Chairman U Hla Win, to work on the rubber plantation.

The villager said, “Usually we have to work to clear land and we are also cutting bushes on the land. About 50 people from our village have to work every day on the work site.”

The rubber plantation project is being implemented by the local authority and it is part of a nationwide project by the military government. The junta has plans to cultivate 10,000 acres of rubber plants in the Mayu Range, which spans the townships of Maungdaw, Buthidaung, and Rathidaung in northern Arakan State.

The plantation is near golf links and Kandaw Gyi Lake of Maungdaw, and the villagers go to the area to work every day, bringing with them their own food.

A female villager said, “We do not want to work there because we have not received any wages from them. The authority will allocate the land for us in the future, not now, but we just need food for survival.”

Most villagers are day laborers and are now facing difficulties maintaining their daily survival because they are unable to take other opportunities to work for pay in other locations.

It has also been learned that local authorities have previously forced people to work on government projects with such promises for the future, but it is difficult to get such promises fulfilled by the authorities after the work is done.