The Narinjara News

(24 June 2009)

www.narinjara.com

 

 

 

NEWS IN ENGLISH

 

Flag Meeting Concludes with Many Promises

Farmers' Loans Reserved for Model Villagers

 

 

 

NEWS IN BURMESE

http://www.narinjara.com/burmese.asp

 

Flag Meeting Concludes with Many Promises

Farmers' Loans Reserved for Model Villagers

Seven Swine flu patients in Bangladesh so far  

 

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Narinjara News

Cox’sbazar, 24 June 2009

 

Flag Meeting Concludes with Many Promises

 

A day-long sector-commander level flag meeting between Burma and Bangladesh was completed yesterday with many pledges made by Nasaka, the border security force in Burma, said a source close to Bangladesh authorities.

 

The source said that during the meeting, Nasaka officials pledged they would stop the migration of Muslims from Burma into Bangladesh. The pledge came about after Bangladesh Rifles officials expressed concern over the large number of Burmese Muslims crossing the Naff River.

 

Furthermore, Nasaka agreed to discussions to take back about 27,000 Muslim refugees from two Burmese refugee camps in southern Cox's Bazar District.

 

Regarding the border fence, Nasaka officials told their Bangladesh counterparts that the aim is to prevent smuggling and human trafficking, and would not create any problems for Bangladesh.

 

Burmese officials also said that the construction of embankments and erection of the fence along the Naff River was carried out under the direction of the high authorities in Naypyidaw, the capital of Burma.

 

The source said that Nasaka officials pledged during the meeting to take action on all the requests of BDR officials. The meeting was peacefully concluded without any arguments between the two delegations.

 

U Min Aung, a border-issues analyst, pointed out that Nasaka officials politely discuss matters at every meeting with their Bangladesh counterparts, but then take action in contravention of those agreements.

 

In the meeting, the 15-member Burmese delegation was led by Colonel Aung Gyi, while the 22-member Bangladesh delegation was led by Bangladesh Rifles Chittagong sector commander Colonel Didarul Alam Chowdhury.

 

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Narinjara News

Maungdaw, 24 June 2009

 

Farmers' Loans Reserved for Model Villagers

 

The Burmese military junta has allocated 600 lakh kyat for farmers in Maungdaw District for agricultural loans, but the district authorities are preparing to lend the money to model villagers  in 27 model villages instead, said a senior clerk from the district office on the condition of anonymity.

 

He said, "The military authority allocated 600 lakh kyat to our district but the farmers in our township are unable to get the loans because the local authority is arranging to lend the money to model villagers."

 

The military junta has allocated 2,000 lakh kyat for agricultural loans for all of Arakan State this agricultural season. Of that amount, 600 lakh has been allocated to Maungdaw District.

 

There are four districts in Arakan State - Sittwe, Kyaukpru, Thandwe, and Maungdaw - and the remaining 1,400 lakh has been set aside for the remaining three districts in the state.

 

"The authority has collected the list of farms owned by model villagers in the township. Later the list will be transferred to the agricultural bank in Maungdaw to withdraw the loans to them," he said.

 

Agricultural loans have recently been provided by the government's central bank to farmers through the agricultural bank, but local authorities in Maungdaw are neglecting to distribute the loans to Arakanese farmers in the district.

 

"I think the authority does not want to make loans to Muslim farmers because they are not citizens in Burma, so the authority decided to loan to the model villagers," the clerk said.

 

According to a local farmer source, the authority is only making loans to model villagers from Burma proper, and is not making loans to either Muslim or ethnic Rakhine, Dynet, and Khami farmers.

 

 

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Narinjara News (NN) was founded by a group of Arakanese in exile in Bangladesh from Burma in 2001 seeking to voice for the people depriving of human and democratic rights and to pave the way for them who are struggling for those rights. The Narinjara News is an independent organization, not affiliated with any political party or organization. Any opinion or advice relating to our News Agency is warmly welcomed and please email to: narinjara@...

 

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