Extortion in villages for renewing family cards in Arakan .

Burmese military authorities have forced villagers to pay hefty fees for updating family lists in Maungdaw District in western Burma's Arakan State, said a villager from Thapraytaw Village on Sunday.

The villagers faced extortion for enlisting their newborn children and for deleting the names of their deceased loved ones from the data recorded on their family card, known locally as Form No. 10, he said.

"We are forced to pay 10,000 Kyat for listing our newborn children, 5,000 Kyat for deleting the names of our deceased family members, 3,000 Kyat for a group photograph, and 1,000 Kyat to the respective village chairman," he said on condition of anonymity because talking to the media is a punishable offence in Arakan State.

He added that every villager had to pay what was demanded by the authorities without complaint out of fear of harsh punishment.

Teams formed by officials of the immigration department, Nasaka, and members of the Village Peace and Development Council have been conducting family card renewal operations for Muslim and Hindu families across Maungdaw District from the beginning of this year.

Currently, the operation is continuing in rural villages under Nasaka Area No. 7, No. 8, and No. 9 after being completed in the urban wards in the district.

There were formerly two townships known as Buthidaung and Maungdaw under Maungdaw District, but the regime recently formed a new township called Taungbro-Left from an area that was part of Maungdaw Township.

A resident of downtown Maungdaw said that the family card renewal operation has already been completed in their locality and they had to pay 1,500 Kyat to the census team just for a family photograph to be taken for the record. However, he added that residents had to pay at least 50,000 Kyat to the census team in order to get a new family member included in their card.

According to an official Burmese source, authorities undertake the census by renewing the family cards once or twice a year in order to combat illegal immigration into Maungdaw District, which is close to the Bangladesh border.