Dated: Sunday,
October12, 2003
Maungdaw,
October12: Recently, Nasaka has released an order
for the Rohingya community to sign on an agreement
between Nasaka (Border Security Force) and new
married couples for birth control, said a new married couple to our
correspondent.
This is the first time in Rohingya history, to sign on an agreement between Nasaka and new married couple for not more than three
children shall be born. In earlier times, they ordered the Rohingya
people in verbally but have never taken in writing statement, the bridegroom
further said.
There were some various
formalities have been imposed since 1999 on the new Rohingya
couples, intending to marry. They have to get recommendation letters from
village PDC to Township PDC (Township Peace and Development Council)
authorities and also from Health Department. The bridegroom has to attain the
age of 22 and the bride 18 and the bridegroom can take no more wives, the
couple further added.
At present, there are many
applications to the concerned Nasaka camps for
marriage permission in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships. They have to pay at least Kyat-
100,000 to the Nasaka authority to get permission for
an application. But, they delay to allow though they take money from the
applicants. At least, the Nasaka allows one or two in
one month in a town, an elderly villager who was recently rejected to get
marriage permission by Nasaka.
“ If the
government is sincere, why does it only restrict the marriage purpose of the Rohingya community excluding other communities? It is a
depopulation technique of SPDC towards Rohingya. I believe that there is no other country in
the world such as
Most of the poor families cannot
meet the expense of the application cost, so, they have abandoned the marriage
affairs. Regarding this, many youths and teenaged girls have been pushed to
commit illicit relations between them, said the parents of a youth with a great
frustration. ##
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