The seizure of Rohingya families’ assets by authorities is a long-standing practice A 59-year old camp resident named Zahid is referred to by other camp residents as a “community historian” due to his knowledge of Rohingya modern history. Zahid honed this expertise throughout a long career as a civil servant, when he worked as a village secretary during the period of Na Sa Ka [a border military force that established a presence in many Rohingya areas from 1992 to 2013]. Zahid described his perspective on the seizure of Rohingya families’ assets that began occurring in northern Rakhine State during this time. “Under U Ne Win [the commander turned prime minister who launched Myanmar’s era of military rule after leading a coup d’etat in 1962] things were good, but after Na Sa Ka arrived in 1995, everything changed.” At that point, he recalled, “People’s properties were removed from their family lists. There was a policy in some places where two-thirds of people’s land was seized by Na Sa Ka and they were permitted to keep one-third to farm for themselves. Na Sa Ka told us, ‘You are Bengali, this land is not yours. You can only work the land, not own it.’ There was a big economic impact. Business was restricted and it became more difficult to survive.” Zahid believes that this seizure of assets was one component of a broader strategy against the Rohingya that included harassing affluent and educated persons while forcibly conscripting the poor as laborers. “Myanmar had a long plan to drive us out of the country, especially educated youths. They started to migrate out of the country. So Myanmar’s strategy was effective. Meanwhile, the poor and uneducated people were forced to labor for Na Sa Ka every day. Every day, each village tract was ordered to send 100 coolies [a South Asian term used to refer to unskilled, sometimes indentured laborers]. They received no pay at all for this, it was forced labor.” Figure 28. Income and ex penditure Figure 29. Difficulty of meeting monthly household ex penses 8% 1% somewhat difficult not difficult BDT 7,978 Average amount needed monthly for household necessities Average monthly household income BDT 2,648 BDT 5,040 91% Average monthly food aid for a six-person household n = 1,565 very difficult The average monthly household income reported by refugees is 2,648 taka. However, this figure obscures the fact that 45 percent have no income at all. Among the 55 percent who do have some income, the average is 4,514 taka. For most camp residents, there is a gap between revenue and expenditures that aid only partially fills, as illustrated by figure 28. Nearly all residents say they find it difficult to makes ends meet (figure 29). Only 7 percent of registered refugees and 1 percent of the newly arrived population said that it is “not difficult.” 29