53 village members, they threatened everyone. They didn’t give us time to think. The authorities had guns . . . I think about 200 to 300 people had to fill out the forms in our village.”156 He also told Fortify Rights that Myanmar soldiers kicked a Rohingya woman during the process of filling out the requisite forms: We all had to go together at the same time and in the same place. Women and men. We all had to line up and one woman fell out of line and she was kicked by one of the authorities. She was kicked on the back. She was from near my house. I saw this with my own eyes. 157 Another Rohingya resident of Baw Tu Lar village, 50, told Fortify Rights how the authorities arrested residents who refused the NVC, saying: Many villagers took the NVC at the same time. We had to take it. It was not our choice. They are making us outsiders. They are rejecting us from Myanmar. The authorities had guns. They forced us. Many people were fearful. They called us very rude words. I saw two men refuse the NVC and both were taken to prison. One got released later after years in jail, and the other is still in jail. I know both men . . . In reality, the NVC gives us no rights as citizens.158 After the authorities forced many residents in Baw Tu Lar village to accept the NVC, the residents largely fled together to Bangladesh on August 31 to escape the military-led attacks.159 Several Rohingya forced back to Myanmar from India similarly told Fortify Rights how the Myanmar BGP forced them to accept the NVC upon their return under threat of imprisonment.160 For example, a 20-year-old Rohingya returnee said: [The Indian government] took us to the border and handed us over to the Myanmar BGP on the October 4, [2018] . . . When we refused to accept the NVC, [the BGP] said we would have to be in jail for three more months. I was so afraid to go to jail again, so I accepted the NVC . . . I cannot move anywhere or do anything with the NVC. It does not make life any better.161 Another Rohingya returnee, 35, spent a protracted time in prison in India before being returned to Myanmar. He said: “The government [of Myanmar] threatened us, saying that we had to go to the jail again if we refused the NVC. At that time, I could not say a word as they had so much power. I was afraid to go to jail again. I was in jail for six-and-a-half years in India.”162 He believed his citizenship would be restored in Myanmar, saying: “The Myanmar authorities told us they would give us our rights and citizenship back. However, I was forcibly given the NVC.”163 156 Fortify Rights interview with G.G., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, June 22, 2019. 157 Ibid. 158 Fortify Rights interview with G.D., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, June 22, 2019. 159 Fortify Rights interview with G.F., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, June 22, 2019. 160 Fortify Rights with A.F. and A.I., Rakhine State, Myanmar, November 9, 2018. Fortify Rights with B.K. and B.A., Rakhine State, Myanmar, November 10, 2018. See also, Fortify Rights, “India: Protect Rohingya Refugees, Prevent Forced Returns,” January 24, 2019. Indian forced Rohingya refugees as well as ethnic Rakhine refugees back to situations of persecution in Myanmar. Fortify Rights received mobile-phone footage showing Indian security forces dragging an unknown Rakhine refugee woman from a bamboo hut and carrying an infant child in Mizoram State. Fortify Rights also received photos of Rakhine refugee homes that were destroyed. An Indian official in Lawngtlai, a district in south Mizoram, told reporters on July 3, 2019 that Rakhine refugee homes had “been destroyed,” corroborating the photos on file with Fortify Rights. Indian authorities acknowledged they forced Rakhine refugees back to Myanmar. See, Fortify Rights, “India: Protect Refugees, Prevent Forced Returns,” July 5, 2019, https://www.fortifyrights.org/ publication-20190705.html (accessed August 23, 2019); Fortify Rights, “Rakhine Buddhist Refugees Forced Back to Myanmar,” July 5, 2019, https://www.fortifyrights.org/video-20190705.html (accessed August 23, 2019). 161 Fortify Rights interview with A.F., Rakhine State, Myanmar, November 9, 2018. 162 Fortify Rights interview with B.K., Rakhine State, Myanmar, November 10, 2018. 163 Ibid.