55
At the Three-Mile checkpoint in Maungdaw, the security forces beat me as I couldn’t show
them an NVC. They tortured me with a rod, they extorted money, and they sent me back
threatening me that I must take the NVC . . . Then they started torturing me with the rod,
yelling and asking why I did not receive the NVC. Soon, they released me after extorting
10,000 Myanmar Kyat (US$7).171
A 22-year-old Rohingya confirmed abuse at the checkpoints in Rakhine State, saying: “I have seen
Rohingya people get beat at checkpoints. Sometimes, at the checkpoints, even with the NVC, you
have to pay bribes.”172
Several Rohingya without the NVC told Fortify Rights how the security forces extort money from
them to pass through the checkpoints.173 For example, a Rohingya, 35, told Fortify Rights:
At the checkpoints near the entrance of Maungdaw downtown, BGPs always ask for the NVC.
Since I did not accept it, they threaten me to take the NVC. They extort 500 to 1,000 Myanmar
Kyat (US$0.33 to 0.66) each time. Not only from me but from everyone who is Rohingya. Every
time, they stop me at checkpoints . . . They grab my chickens . . . In a week, I used to do the
trip four times. Every time, they extorted money from me. Sometimes, the [BGP] beat me when
they were drunk . . . I had to cross four checkpoints and paid four times [per week] . . . Without
running my business, my family could face starvation, so we have no option.174
An 85-year-old Rohingya man from in Sittwe Township similarly told Fortify Rights: “We cannot
travel freely. I have to pay the police and military 1,000 to 5,000 Myanmar Kyat (US$1 to 4). If I
travel, I have to pay the authorities.”175
Another Rohingya man told Fortify Rights that the security forces would not allow him to pass
through a checkpoint without the NVC:
In October 2016, I was stopped at a checkpoint. I was told I couldn’t go through the checkpoint.
I was not allowed to pass. I only had a White Card, and it was not enough. I wasn’t able to get
through the checkpoint, so I went another, longer way without the BGP knowing. It is dangerous.176
In some cases, Rohingya without NVCs reported being threatened with imprisonment by security
forces at checkpoints. A Rohingya man, 21, living in Maungdaw Township said Myanmar security
forces forced him to take the NVC after threatening to arrest him at a checkpoint. He said:
I was stopped at a checkpoint in the village of Dar Gwardil [also known as Kyauk Hlay Kar
village]. The BGP and immigration stopped me and said I couldn’t pass. They threatened me.
They said, “You cannot go to your hometown unless you accept an NVC.” They said that, “In
Myanmar, Rohingya must have an NVC.” They threatened me, saying, “If you don’t accept the
NVC, we will throw you in jail.” I was very fearful and sad. I didn��t want to go to jail, and I
didn’t want to accept the NVC. They gave me the NVC right then. I feel very sad. I don’t want
to take it. It’s not for us Rohingya people. I am a citizen of Myanmar.177
171 Fortify Rights interview with G.B., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, June 19, 2019. He told Fortify Rights further
how he fled violence after his home was burned down in 2017 and how he witnessed Myanmar security forces kill
Rohingya civilians.
172 Fortify Rights interview with G.K., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, June 19, 2019.
173 Fortify Rights interview with A.H., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, November 9, 2018; Fortify Rights interview
with C.K., Sittwe Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar, January 12, 2019; Fortify Rights interview with E.H. Kyauktaw
Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar, May 30, 2019.
174 Fortify Rights interview with A.H., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, November 9, 2018.
175 Fortify Rights interview with C.K., Sittwe Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar, January 12, 2019.
176 Fortify Rights interview with A.E., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, November 6, 2018.
177 Fortify Rights interview with D.B., Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar, March 9, 2019.