Interviews: Southern Maungdaw

INTERVIEWS by RICK HEIZMAN
in SOUTHERN MAUNGDAW TOWNSHIP

in September 2017, January, 2018, and October 2018
The wife of U Maung Ni,

from Inn Din Village,
Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar
Interviewed in Inn Din, January 2018
(Inn Din wife)
My husband, was attacked and killed on August 25, 2017,

as he went out to the fields to see our water buffalo.
My husband and I and our sons finished lunch in our

home. My husband then left to go out to see our water
buffalo. He walked to the edge of the village, and then
through some forest to the grassy fields, where he had
brought them that morning. As he got there he was surrounded by hostile Bengali Muslims. 2
of our sons were just 3 minutes behind, intending to catch up with their father. Suddenly the
boys were also surrounded by hostile Bengali Muslims. They could no longer proceed and
were quickly becoming panicked, and one of them called me and said, "Mother! We are
surrounded by many menacing Bengalis, we don't know what they are going to do! And, we
don't know if Father is okay or not, we cannot see him!”
I ran out of the house and shouted to 2 men to come with me. I wanted to protect my sons,
and see that my husband was okay. But, now there were Bengalis everywhere, and they
were shouting crazy things, and acting so hostile - they had swords and spears, and they
were thrusting them up in the air, and yelling. It was so dangerous we had to turnaround and
run to the safety of the Buddhist monastery and temple complex, all the Buddhists were
running there. And, the Bengalis were chasing us, and yelling terrible things, and frightening
all of us to death. Thankfully my sons got away and ran as fast as they could to the
monastery complex. We had stay in the monastery everyday.
Even though we could see our homes across a field, to go into the village was frightening,
there were so many Bengalis around - in our Buddhist village.
One day we found the body of my husband - in the mud, in the forest. We could not look by
ourselves in the forest, it was too dangerous. Some soldiers took us in the forest to find him.
My husband was just bringing the bells for our water buffalo to wear on their necks, and they
killed him because he is Buddhist. Our whole village suffered loses.
While we had to stay in the monastery for protection the Bengalis stole all of our animals,
and money and things from our houses and I lost my husband, and my 4 sons lost their
father.
1
Kyaw Kyaw
interviewed in Inn Din, October, 2018
(Inn Din 1)
I am Kyaw Kyaw from Inn Din Village. I am a driver.
I would like to say, when international community and

international media come here they never ask how Rakhine
people feel. Our Rakhine people have had a lot of difficulties
and threats from Bengali Muslims but they never ask about that. They ask about the attack
like this - they ask how many Bengalis were killed, by Rakhine. That’s why I need to say this -
we never attack Bengali people. Only Rakhine people were killed by Bengalis. If we go walk
out of the village alone it is not safe. Just like one of our village men [Maung Ni] was killed
just outside our village. There is no record of Rakhine people killing Bengali. Only that the
Bengali people attack and kill the Rakhine. Near here is a Bengali village, so we cannot go
out in that direction.
This is our own land, our Rakhine peoples homeland, but, even though we are living in our
own land we are alway afraid of being attacked by the Bengalis. At the time of the attacks
[Aug 25, 2017] all the Rakhine people from Inn Din village had to flee to the monastery. We all
gathered in the monastery - women, children, men - all together there. We all had to stay in
the monastery with only two security police. So, anyway, now we are happy, because there
are no more Bengali Muslims around here anymore. We can go anywhere now, no problem -
except the mountains.
Maung Phyu Thee

(Inn Din 2)
I am Maung Phyu Thee, from Inn Din Village.
While I was with my cows, in the rice field, another one of our
villagers, U Maung Ni, was with his cows, in his rice field. I
heard the loud sinister yelling of the Muslims coming from
some forested area, near where Maung Ni's cows were. I
wanted to see what was happening, so I quickly walked
towards the shouting. Then, 3 Muslims appeared, and saw
me, and in a menacing manner walked towards me - with their swords. I turned around and
started running back to my village in panic. As I ran I encountered Tun Tun Oo [son of Maung
Ni] and another young man. They were going out to see Maung Ni. I quickly told them what I
saw and heard and we phoned some villagers and told them to come here quickly because,
from what I was able to see, Maung Ni was attacked, and may even be dead, or wounded.
Many villagers came quickly, and we walked over to where I saw the violence, but we did not
find the body of Maung Ni.
2
Thein Tun
(Inn Din 3)
I am Thein Tun, from Inn Din Village.
We used to work together with Bengali Muslims - no problem.

Many of the Rakhine Buddhist people here own rice fields, and
we often rent them to Bengalis, and they can work the fields,
and grow rice. Around one month before the Aug 25, 2017
attacks, all of a sudden all of the Bengali people stopped
working in the rice fields, and gave us back the land. At that time we Rakhine people were
surprised by this action - it had never happened before. We asked the Bengalis, "Why do you
stop working the rice fields and why return them to us?" They answered, our Mawlawis
(Imams) in the mosques ordered us, "Don't work with the Buddhists anymore, don't
communicate with them or any other non-Muslim people (Hindus, tribal ethnicities). We have
been warned by the Mawlawis that if any of us work with the non-Muslim infidels that we will
be killed.” That's why they returned the rice fields to us, a month before the surprise attacks
against us.
Between this Inn Din Rakhine village, and the larger Inn Din Muslim village there was a street
that had a market every morning. But starting then (a month before the Aug 25, 2017
attacks) there were no more Bengalis selling things. The Mawlawis told all the Bengalis, "No
more buying or selling to any non-Muslim infidels - for any reason, don't even go there to the
market." After that development, still before the attacks, the Rakhine people here became on
the alert. It was very strange behavior. We cautioned each other to not go into any Bengali
villages. The situation was strange and we started to worry about what bad things might
happen.
On Aug 24, 2017, I received a phone call from Alay Than Kyaw Village around midnight. I was
told that info had come that said there will be an attack somewhere in Maungdaw Township,
in a few hours or less. I was told to be very alert, and very careful, and if we don't have
security in the village, then we would have to make our own security. Around 3 am Koe Tan
Kauk Village [6 miles to the south from Inn Din] and Chein Khar Li Village [8 miles south] were
attacked first. When we heard that news we called for an urgent meeting in our village in the
pre-dawn darkness. We had to figure out: If we were attacked by the Bengalis, what would
we do, where would we flee? We would have to flee to our Buddhist Monastery. We would
take women and children first, to the monastery. The men would have to remain in the village
to try to prevent the destruction of our homes.
3
In the morning around 9 or 10, I heard that U Maung Ni was killed by Bengalis as he was
tending to his cows in the field. Then many many agitated Bengalis yelling loudly came to the
perimeter of our Rakhine Inn Din Village. All the Rakhine people ran quickly, in fear, to the
monastery. The Bengalis were yelling things like "Bagei!" which means tiger. The Bengalis
were implying, "We are tigers, and you Rakhine are cows - we will eat you!" They were
yelling these things through the loudspeakers of the mosque, "Tigers must eat! And we tigers
like to eat cows! Rakhine are cows! We will eat them!”
The mosque loudspeakers were also broadcasting, "Bengali Muslims, don't be afraid. Even if
security forces come with weapons they will not shoot us! The police have orders not to
shoot us. They will only shoot in the air to scare us. Don't be afraid! When the police run out
of bullets, we all will rush them, and kill all of them!”
All of us Rakhine people had to take shelter in the monastery, there were some security
forces there. But, still we were surrounded by so many Bengalis. We could see Bengalis
starting to burn their own homes - we watched from the monastery. We were lucky that the
wind was preventing the fires from spreading to the Rakhine part of the village, toward the
west.
Ma Shwe Sein
(Inn Din 4)
My name is Ma Shwe Sein, and my husband is a teacher. For a

long time I have employed a Bengali Muslim woman to cook for
our family and a Bengali man to do general work. Also, I employ
another young Bengali who is like a brother to me, and he
usually sleeps at our home. I also own some rice fields and I rent them to a Bengali man to
work, but then he told me, sometime before the attacks of August 25, 2017, that he will not
be continuing to work for me. I was surprised, and asked, “why?” He said, “Because very
soon violence would happen against the Buddhists, don’t stay here, go away.”
I have a daughter, and a son, and my mother who lives here in our village. The young Bengali
man, who is like a brother to me, he also said, “Go away from here now, it is too dangerous.”
They told me that the Mawlawi (Imam) told all the Bengali Muslims that they could not work
for the Buddhists anymore, and they could not buy or sell things to the Buddhists, and if they
disobeyed they would be killed. Sometimes at the mosque Bengalis would be beat severely
if they were interacting in any way with Buddhists.
4
Actually, I didn’t really believe that violence would happen this way, I didn’t want to believe it.
I said to the brother-like Bengali man, if we run away then you can take our cows, but if you
run away I will take back my cows (that I rented to him).
3 days before the attack, the Bengali woman that cooked for me did not show up. She
informed me that she was not allowed to come anymore (as dictated by the Mawlawi). The
Bengali general worker who worked for me actually loved pork curry and alcohol, and usually
slept here also. After the other workers stopped coming, in fear from the threats of the
Mawlawi, I told the general worker to just stay here, it is okay. But the next day he was
grabbed and taken to the mosque, and the Mawlawi beat him severely. After that he was
banned and under watch not to go to the Buddhist section of Inn Din.
On August 25, 2017, the day so many targets were attacked (but it was unknown yet) I was
eating lunch, with other teachers, when I heard that U Maung Ni was killed by 20-30
Bengalis. I thought, when I heard that, that they wouldn’t kill him, maybe he would be
kidnapped for a short time. U Maung Ni was also very familiar with Bengalis. Me and the
other teachers were eating chicken curry when mobs of Bengalis on 3 sides of our village
gathered shouting, “Maru! Maru!” (Kill! Kill!). So, we all just dropped our plates and ran as
fast as we could towards the Buddhist monastery, with Bengalis rushing into the village
yelling so loudly. While we sheltered in the monastery the Bengalis continued shouting. Later
in the day they started to burn their homes, we saw that happening. And, the wind was
blowing towards the Bengali homes, not towards our Buddhist homes - we were very very
lucky.
I had met with the Bengali Muslim people whom I had hired to work at my house. I said, "You
have your grandmother, and your children, and you have land to work, why don't you want to
work and make money for your needs?” They said, “If we work anymore for Rakhine people
we will be killed, by the Mawlawis (Imams) of our mosques.” The Bengali men, that I used to
employ said, “We would like to live here, and work here [in the Buddhist village] but we are
not allowed now. The ARSA militants and the Mawlawis told all of us that if we violate their
orders we will be killed.”
I heard that at a meeting in the Bengali Inn Din Village, with ARSA militants and Mawlawis,
they were saying things like: “Even if the country is destroyed, we don’t care about that. We
want this land, and when we take this land everything will be okay.”
I explained to some of the Bengalis, “This is not our land, it is in the hands of the
government. We can live here peacefully and work together. If the government wants this
land today, we have to move today.” When I explained like that, one Bengali said, “No.
Maybe the whole country will be destroyed, and maybe there will only be one Bengali woman
and man alive, but if that is how we get this land it will be okay.”
5
Name unknown
from Kyauk Pan Du Village,
interviewed in Kyauk Pan Du, October, 2018
(Kyauk Pan Du 1)
[At Kyauk Pan Du there is a significant Hindu temple in a

natural cave, which I wanted to visit, but this man said we
couldn’t because the water level of the river between us and it was too high. He started to
talk about the Hindu history around Kyauk Pan Du.]
At that time the Bengali Muslims forced the minority Hindu people around them to eat beef
by threatening to kill them if they did not. Also, the Bengali Muslims threatened to cut off
their heads if they did not convert to Islam. So, the Hindu people were terrified and they ate
beef under the eyes of the Muslims, and then fled their villages and their land for other
places.
Last year, a few days before the Aug 25, 2017 attacks by the Muslims, the situation was not
good, the Muslims were talking strangely and we noticed it. On Aug 24, I went to a Bengali
village to do some business. Some Bengalis that I know, and they know me, came to me and
said, “go away from here quickly, go back to your village, the situation is not good”. So, I
came back to here.
[In the middle of the night] we were all awakened by their war-like yelling. Our village was
surrounded by many many Bengalis yelling terrible things with the loudspeaker.I was
watching all of this from my daughters home. They were yelling things like, “Allahu Akbar!
Allahu Akbar!” (Allah/God is the greatest!) and “Zinjabar! Zinjabar!” (Victory for us!)
First they attacked the police outpost, and set it on fire. As police shot back the Bengalis
retreated to their village, and went to their mosques. Then again, they came back to attack
us Buddhists again around 3:30 PM. We all fled to another police post (not the nearest one
because it had been burned) We were greatly outnumbered and the daylight was going to be
gone soon, but luckily the military arrived, and fired guns in the air to scare the terrorists
away.
6
Tun Tha Kyaw
(Kyauk Pan Du 2)
I am Tun Tha Kyaw. Let me just tell you what happened on Aug
25, 2017. Many many Bengali Muslims don’t care about or have
any respect for our country, nor for the military or police. They
don’t respect anybody. They tried to destroy all the Rakhine Buddhist villages. During the
attack I was in Na Ta La village (a new village) nearby. When all the Bengali Muslims,
including the Bengali women, came to attack the Buddhists here in Kyauk Pan Du, the
Buddhists fled to Na Ta La. The attackers had bombs which really frightened us. Later the
Muslims fled to Bangladesh. If the Bengalis are allowed to come back then we will have to
go away and live somewhere else - because it is too risky to live near those violent people.
Maybe the government can find a place in northern Maungdaw for them to live, but no one in
southern Maungdaw can live with them, or even near them.
Name unknown
(Kyauk Pan Du 3)
In 1993, July 31, I moved from Kyauktaw Township to Kyauk

Pan Du, southern Maungdaw Township, as part of a
Government Development Plan. After I arrived in 1993, a man
was killed in Tha Ray Kone Baung Village (12 miles north) by
Bengalis. His name was U Thein Maung. His cows were stolen and his body was never
found. In Ther Ra Pyi Village, in Buthidaung Township, two Buddhist girls were raped and
killed by Bengalis, and their bodies were found in the chili pepper fields under a haystack.
Then, there was another incident in Tha Ray Kone Baung Village. A young lady, who was
very poor, started walking to Maungdaw (about 8 miles north). She made charcoal for her
livelihood. On the way there was a Bengali market. Some young Bengali men raped and
killed her. In 1994, in another Na Ta La Village (means 'new village') nearby another Rakhine
women was raped and killed by Bengalis. Her body was found near Tha Ray Kone Baung
Village.
Last year, during the attacks of Aug 25, 2017, I heard Bengalis shouting as they were
attacking the police and army, "There are more of us than you have bullets!” There are two
police outposts near here - one near the village and one on the hilltop. During the attacks, in
the middle of the night, the police post next to the village was under heavy attack. At a lull in
the attack they decided to flee to the hilltop outpost, but were ambushed on the way. For our
Rakhine nationality people it is impossible to live with these Bengali Muslims. Even when the
Bengali woman is pregnant the baby inside is already ARSA. It is impossible to accept these
people back into southern Maungdaw.
7
Thein Maung Oo
(Kyauk Pan Du 4)
I am Thein Maung Oo. Since 1997, I lived here in Kyauk Pan

Du. 3 months before the Aug 25, 2017 attacks the situation
was becoming difficult here. The Bengalis were more and
more aggressive and intimidating. We could not go around
outside of our village safely, to go to Maungdaw or
Rathedaung, we just had to stay in our village. All around us were Bengali villages.
A few days before the surprise attacks it got even worse. We could not leave our village at
all. Even if we just wanted to take our cows to pasture, the Bengalis would show their
swords in a threatening manner. So, we had to stay in our village - we were trapped. If we
went to the north there were large Bengali villages, if we went to the east there were the
mountains, if we went to the south there were more large Bengali villages, and on the west
there is the ocean. Our Kyauk Pan Du Rakhine Village had only 320 people - at that time
about 350 people, if we include the road construction workers. The Kyauk Pan Du Bengali
Village had 7748 people.
On Aug 24, 2017, at 12 midnight, we heard the Bengalis groups yelling back and forth to
each other, and then we heard bomb explosions. Shortly after that, around 1:30 AM, the
Bengalis attacked the police outpost and set it on fire. Then they advanced towards our
Buddhist monastery. All the Rakhine villagers had to flee in panic to another police outpost
(further away than the burning police outpost). The villagers tried to hide as best as they
could. We had to stay in the police post for many days, and it was raining heavily. It was in
the middle of our monsoon season. We had to make temporary shelters with plastic
sheeting. My son and my daughter both got a serious infection inside their ears (from an
insect bite inside the ear). Later I had to take them to the hospital in Sittwe. It was serious -
they spent one month in the hospital.
ARSA is not just one or two, or a few people - it is the whole village. I was working in
agriculture and fisheries. I hired 4 Bengali workers for the last year. I know all the Bengali
people around here - from young to old. But, they are all ARSA in their minds. All of the
Bengali Muslims are ARSA.
All of the Bengalis around here know me quite well. Because, I hire them to work in
agriculture and fishery businesses.
On Aug 25, 2017, they broadcast with a loudspeaker from Myaw Chaung Village (about 5
miles to the north) to a huge gathering of Bengali Muslims - about 30,000. Both Bengali men
and women were shouting epithets against the Buddhists - even if we couldn't understand it
we knew it was bad.
We Just recently arrived back in Kyauk Pan Du, after being refugees for over one year.
8
Maung Kan Gri
(Kyauk Pan Du 5)
I am Maung Kan Gri. In 1993, July 10, I moved from

Kyauktaw township to Kyauk Pan Du, Maungdaw Township
as part of the Government Development Plan.
In 1994, the RSO (Rohingya Solidarity Organization) [militant terrorist group] started
appearing. They came and burned Rakhine Buddhist villages. At that time there was no
military around here, only NaSaKa [a now disbanded border guard force]. Also, the NaSaKa
outposts were attacked by RSO militants, and some of our Rakhine people were killed in
their villages.
Now [Aug 25, 2017] ARSA - with thousands of members and village supporters - attacked
the Rakhine villages, and police outposts. We were surrounded by thousands of ARSA
fighters.
At the time of the attack I was working in the rice fields. The police outposts and our villages
were surrounded by militants. The police outpost was on fire. I could see it from the rice field,
and I remember seeing one policeman running out of there. At 5 pm in the evening the
military arrived. The Bengalis retreated back to their villages - and started to burn their own
homes. After they set their houses ablaze they fled towards Bangladesh.
In Rakhine State we don't have a Bengali State. If the Bengali refugees come back from
Bangladesh to live here again then the Rakhine Buddhists will not be able to live here,
because they are invaders. They get everything from Rakhine. It is impossible to coexist with
them. They kill everybody - the police, the villagers, even the animals.
I have been living here in Kyauk Pan Du for 26 years. This whole time the Bengalis are trying
to kill us again and again - non-stop. Our Rakhine Buddhist people are not trying to attack
and kill them. But ARSA terrorists invaded Myanmar illegally and attacked our native
indigenous people, government staff - everybody. I would like to say that from time to time,
since the British colonial days, the Bengalis have tried to take this land from us.
9
Ma Thein Nu Sein
(Kyauk Pan Du 6)
I am Ma Thein Nu Sein. In 1993, I moved from Sittwe to

Kyauk Pan Du Village, as part of a Government
Development Plan for poor people.
Since I came here in 1993 we have not been able to live peacefully. At times we had to move
around - from this village to that village, because of the RSO (Rohingya Solidarity
Organization) [militant terrorist group] at that time, and now ARSA again. They are like ants
coming out of a hole - a never-ending population.
In the morning of Aug 25, 2017, at around 11 am the Bengalis started to burn the police
outpost. I know many of the Bengalis around here, but I could not recognize them because
many of them were wearing black clothes and black masks. My son-in-law came to my
house and urged me to run to the police post. I told him, "You go and take your children to
the police post, but I'm going to stay here in my house." I picked up a sword and prepared to
defend my house. In my life there is nothing [that I should run away from]. Maybe I will die
today, but I will die defending my house. And I stood there with a sword in hand.
Later I went to the police post. It was absolutely full of Rakhine people from Kyauk Pan Du
and other nearby villages. At the police post I cooked food for everyone for 28 days there.
Everyday we didn't know what will happen, and we were very worried.
When and if Bengalis come back here from Bangladesh we will have to be very careful, and
we have to prepare to run at any time. It is impossible to live here with them. It is not only
me, it's the truth that is impossible to live here peacefully if they come back. You can ask any
other people and they will answer the same way.
If the Bengalis come back here the transportation routes to escape from them will be very
difficult for our Rakhine people. If the Bengalis come back today, today they will kill. For all
the Kyauk Pan Du villagers it is impossible to live here, in Kyauk Pan Du Village, if they arrive
back in southern Maungdaw. We would have to run and flee.
10
A village lady, name unknown
interviewed in Kyauk Pan Du, January, 2018
(Kyauk Pan Du bunkers)
Since the 24th of August, 2017, the behavior and

demeanor of the neighboring Bengali Moslems was very
very strange - as the Rakhine Buddhist people who lived
here noted.
Normally the Bengalis would come over to sell some vegetables or fish to the Rakhine
villagers, and likewise we might have foodstuffs or things that the Bengalis would buy from
us. But on the 24th, it was very noticeable that no Bengalis were around to sell things. It was
highly unusual and that's why Rakhine people were very alert and apprehensive.
On August 25th, 2017, very early in the morning darkness, around 3:00 am, we were all
awakened by the sounds of boys yelling so loudly, boys and men yelling in their Bengali
language. And, the noise of tin plates being struck was terrifying. Then that stopped, but,
there was another strange sound, men in the eastern part of their village would shout
something and and men in the western part would answer it - it was going back and forth.
And then I heard a bomb explode. There were many Bengalis on the one (and only) road
here, and also in the west part of the Bengali Village. They moved in the darkness towards
the police outpost, and then they suddenly attacked it, and set it on fire. There were many
Bengali shouting things like, "Go away infidels! This is Allah’s land! You are filthy idol-
worshipers!” We Rakhine people were so scared.
In terror we all ran to another police outpost. We were all trying to hide for safety under
anything, behind anything, sometimes there was a huge explosion, the Bengalis had some
bombs.
Then at 5:00 am, the Bengalis went to their mosques to pray, and then they came back.
There was a big and old Banyan tree at the end of the Rakhine village, a Nat tree (Nats are
nature or territory spirits which many people believe can have powers of good or bad, and
can be consulted or feared). The Bengalis were congregating there.
Question: What kind of weapons did they have?
Answer: When they came out they had swords, knives, wooden clubs, and bombs. Some of
them even wore black masks.
Around 6:00 am, the police and army showed up. There was a small police post near the
Bengali village nearby. As the security forces were going towards it to assist the badly
outnumbered police there, they had to cross a small bridge. A Bengali landmine blew up the
truck and damaged the bridge. Two policemen were injured, but none were killed. All the
villagers were hiding in the ‘bomb holes’ (deep trenches) at the police outpost for protection,
with security forces maintaining a perimeter around them.
When the military arrived the Bengalis were not even afraid of it. Only when the military fired
warning shots in the air did the Bengalis retreat.
11
Daw Thein Nyo
from Tha Ray Kone Baung Village,
interviewed in Tha Ray Kone Baung, October, 2018
(Tha Ray Kone Baung 1)
My name is Daw Thein Nyo. On June 8, 2012, I was not here in

my village. I had gone to the school in Alay Than Kyaw village to
get a recommendation paper from the school master to transfer
my daughter to a different school. But, my husband was here in
the village, he did not flee the village when it came under surprise attack by the Bengali
Muslims. My husband was brutally killed. My daughters fled with other villagers to seek
safety. But, I didn’t know that at the time, because I was in Alay Than Kyaw.
I got back to Tha Ray Kone Baung. The village people were running from the village to a
small hill, and I had to run up the hill also. Our village monastery was burning, and the
Muslims were shouting, “Maro! Maro!” in Bengali language, which means, “Kill them! Kill
them!”
I didn’t see my husband and my 3 daughters. We had to spend a fearful night in the open
fields. The next morning the Border Guard Police arrived, and I knew one of them - Maung
Phru - and I asked him, “How is the situation in our village, and do you know anything about
my husband and 3 daughters?” He told me, “your husband was killed, and 2 other men were
killed as well.” [One of them was the well-known and well-liked teacher headmaster, Maung
Chan Tha] But, he didn’t know anything about my daughters. I didn’t know anything about
them - did they flee and escape? Or, were they in trouble, or dead? I was full of fear and
dread.
Then the army took us to Alay Than Kyaw, where there is a large military base. When we
arrived there I asked the army, “Please take me to my village, my husband was killed there,
and I don’t know where my 3 daughters are.” The army said tomorrow we will take you, but I
insisted that we go today. But, the army said it was too dangerous.
The next morning, the army said again that it was still too dangerous and they took all of us
refugees to Maungdaw town. I went around and checked with groups of refugees but I still
could not find my daughters. I cried, and I couldn’t eat anything. My husband was dead, and
I didn’t even know if my 3 daughters were alive or dead. I cried so much. I moved around in
Maungdaw. I stayed in the Alodawpyie Monastery. [And finally she and her 3 daughters were
reunited]
That’s what happened in 2012.
Also during the 2016 attacks by the Muslims I had to flee with my 3 daughters.
And again, in 2017, my daughters and I had to flee for our lives.
12
Ba Maung
My name is Ba Maung. On June 8, 2012, my father, U Ba

Kyaw, was killed in our village, Tha Ray Kone Baung.
Around here we Rakhine Buddhists are very much the
minority now, the Bengali Muslims outnumber us greatly.
We used to work together, in agriculture, and fishing, and
so on. We Rakhine Buddhists are never aggressive to anyone. But the Bengali Muslims
started to attack us in 2012. They burned our homes, and burned our whole villages, and
killed us, and we had to flee. All of our Rakhine villages were burned in 2012. Some of us fled
to Buthidaung, some fled to Maungdaw for safety. At that time we stayed in the Myoma
monastery / refugee camp in Maungdaw, for 3 months. Again and again the Muslims
attacked us - in 2016 and 2017 - we had to flee again and again. First they attacked the
police outposts, in 2016 and 2017, and they targeted the ethnic tribal minority villages in the
mountains - they burned the villages and killed the villagers.
If we compare the population of Rakhine villages and the Bengali villages we will see the
Rakhine village might have 100 households, while the Bengali village can have 1000
households, the Rakhine village would have a population of 400-500 people, while the
Bengali village will have 7000-8000 people. So much difference.
We Rakhine used to employ many Bengalis, to work in our fields, or do domestic work, or
rent fields from us to plant and harvest and make their own living. But in 2017 the Mawlawis
[Imams] of the mosques forbade any Bengalis from buying from, or selling to, or dealing with
Rakhine people, in any way, and they were told that they would be punished severely - even
have their heads cut off - for interacting at all with Rakhine Buddhists. At the time, before the
attacks of August 25, 2017, the township authority / administrator came down from
Maungdaw and said that all the people must work together. And, he pointed out the
discriminatory practices of the Bengali Muslims, and said that the Muslims should buy and
sell things to people regardless of their religion.
But still, in the village markets the Muslims did not buy anything from Buddhists, and did not
sell anything to Buddhists. Even one time I wanted to drink some water, but the Muslims
would not sell me any.
We have had a lot of difficulties because of the Bengalis. We can’t go to the mountains for
anything, we can’t do our work well with such uncertainty. We don’t know how to live with
this situation - we don’t know about our future.
My father was killed in our village by Bengalis. He was old, he couldn’t run. He was killed in
his own house. I saw it happen, but I couldn’t even take his body, because I had to run or
also be killed. The next day, I came back here and took his body, and buried him.
13
Hla Than Maung
My name is Hla Than Maung. I came here in 1993, and have

lived here since then. After the attacks of August 25, 2017,
when things had calmed down a bit I went to the forest with 6
other villagers to go fishing in the river. In the afternoon
around 3 pm we thought we should go back to our village. Then all of a sudden some
Bengalis appeared nearby. I said, “Nokore, Nokore” [Bengali, probably means, ‘let us go’]
The first man in our group was hit and beaten by the Bengalis, but he managed to start
running away. Some Bengalis were running right behind him and slashed his leg with a
sword, but the Rakhine man didn’t fall and kept on running. Then he got slashed again, on
the same leg, and fell down and was knocked out - unconscious. The Bengalis surrounded
the body on the ground and one Bengali put his sword tip on his neck - to finish killing him -
but another Bengali said, “He’s dead already, we should get out of here before the others
inform the police and army.”
Strangely, he was able to hear them, but he could not move anything or even open his eyes.
The rest of the group of Rakhine informed some villagers with a motorbike, and with the
motorbike they went to retrieve his body - dead or alive. As they arrived at the location they
saw Bengali Muslims running away. Other Bengalis had further stabbed and mutilated the
unconscious man with iron rods, an axe, and their curved knives. Just before the rescuers
came one of the Bengalis said, “here is your last present” as he stabbed him a last time with
a sharp iron rod. The Buddhist man had nine major wounds. We took him to a hospital and
miraculously he survived.
Daw Sein Nu
My name is Daw Sein Nu. I am 85 years old. On June 8, 2012,

I was not in my village during the Bengali Muslim attacks. I
was at the mountain vegetable plantation, not far away. I
didn’t know that the Bengalis had attacked our village.
Some villagers came to the mountain and took me away.

They told me that our village had been attacked and was
burning, and that the situation was dangerous. We got to our village area and then I found
out that my husband was killed by the Bengalis. Now I am not happy, and my health is not
good.
14
Moe Shay
interviewed in Maungdaw town, October, 2018
(Tha Ray Kone Baung Moe Shay)
I am Moe Shay from Tha Ray Kone Baung Village. On June 8,

2012 in the morning I went to the market, and I noticed that
all the Bengali Muslim shops were closed. I asked some
Bengalis, whom I knew, “why?” They responded vaguely,
”today we have an Islamic special day.” It was vague, and
strange. So, I asked again, “what kind of ceremony?” but they didn’t really answer. Almost all
the Bengali shops were shuttered closed, but a few were open although barely - most of the
wood shutter pieces were in place, with only one or two slots open.
I felt very uneasy, and started to fear that something was about to happen. I went home, and
ate an early lunch, but I suspected something bad was going to happen, so I grabbed my
Japanese Canon camera and went out. I saw many Muslims gathering at the mosque, and
also other places - one group here, and another group there - and I tried to take some
photos from hidden places, but I couldn’t get anything good, without risk. I felt if they saw
me taking photos of them they would try to harm me. In the east part of the village there are
7 or 8 Rakhine restaurants. The mosque is also close to there. I tried to take photos from the
restaurants, but again, I couldn’t get anything - without risk.
As the Bengalis in the mosque finished their prayers, they came out and spread around, and
some of them remained in the market area. Around 12 or 1:00 pm a Mawlawi [Imam], whom I
was familiar with, told me that in Maungdaw town [16 kilometers/10 miles north], that
morning, there was a big problem. At about 2:00 pm, another Mawlawi, also familiar to me,
said that in the morning, in Maungdaw town, 1 or 2 Muslims were shot and killed. I asked,
“Why were they shot?” The Mawlawi answered, “Because they protested.” So, then I said,
“Protesting what?” I knew the police do not shoot for no reason, they are under orders not to
shoot. As I started to walk towards the market the Mawlawi told me, “go back to your village,
just stay there.”
I called my brother, who works in the military, and said, “I heard there was trouble in
Maungdaw.” My brother responded, “yes, I heard that also.” [The Muslims had launched big
surprise attacks] So, I went back to my village and I told the villagers there was trouble
happening in some places, and we needed to be careful.
We organized some people to be lookouts, and to watch and warn us if trouble was coming.
At about 6:00 pm, Bengalis started yelling from their village mosque loudspeakers. They
were thrusting their swords, iron rods, slingshots and arrows in the air - showing us their
weapons and intimidating us with violent phrases. There were old Bengalis, young Bengalis,
and so many in between. One Bengali whom I knew well - Mar See Dee, was one of those
shouting from the mosque. Another Bengali man - Zu Phine - was shouting on the
loudspeaker, and spreading the news about the Muslim uprising in Maungdaw. Also, some
15
young Mawlawis, whom I also was familiar with, got on the loudspeakers and were inciting
the Muslims to intimidate, attack, and slaughter all non-Muslims.
Before the Muslims started burning my village - Tha Ray Kone Baung - a truck came into the
village. The license plate was number 5599. I remembered that truck very well, because at a
rock quarry we used that same truck to haul rocks. The truck was full of Bengalis from
Maungdaw. They were dropped at the border of the village. They all went into the mosque
and then shortly after that they started to attack Tha Ray Kone Baung Village. Around Tha
Ray Kone Baung there are 3 mosques. The Muslims came out of the mosques yelling in their
Bengali language. The Bengalis started coming towards our village to attack. I took some
photos of the mobs. I tried to take more photos but then I was alone, villagers were fleeing,
and some of my friends were yelling to me to hurry up and run. I had a spear with me, to
defend myself. I had my camera and a spear.
There were about 3000 Bengalis surrounding our Buddhist village on 3 sides, and they were
shouting, “Maro! Maro! Maro!” [Kill! Kill! Kill!] My father ran out of the village, along with the
rest of the villagers. The Muslims caught two men in the village and savagely killed them. I
got hit with a ‘jingali’ arrow [sharpened bicycle spoke shot with slingshot] but I was running
fast, and I ran past U Maung Chan Tha - the head teacher for 20 years here - he devoted his
life to helping the Bengalis become educated. I ran up a small hill where many other villagers
had run for their lives. We looked back in horror as we could see that U Maung Chan Tha
and his wife had been caught because he was slowed by his weight. He was attacked and
stabbed to death by his own sword wielding young students. His wife managed to escape,
although she had a long wound on the back of her neck. She managed to get to the bottom
of the hill. I took pictures, from the top of the hill, of the circle of Bengalis who were killing U
Maung Chan Tha as we were helplessly watching in fright and horror. I also saw that the
Bengalis had stopped chasing the people as they went up the hill, and were fetching the
valuables that people had dropped as they ran as fast as they could - jewelry, money - those
kind of things.
Then a police jeep drove up the road, to the bottom of the hill. The road was between the
attacking and looting Muslims, and the Buddhists who had fled in terror to the hilltop. An
officer shouted at the Bengalis who had surrounded and were stabbing U Maung Chan Tha
to stop - but they didn’t listen. And then Maung Chan Tha’s wounded wife ran to the officer,
and he helped her up to the hilltop. It was very timely that the police jeep came then,
because probably within minutes the Bengalis could try storming the hill to kill us all. It was a
small hill with no protection at all, and we
had no means to protect ourselves.
There were about 80 villagers and
teachers on the hill.
The Bengalis started retreating to their

villages, and we came down and
cautiously approached our burning
village, with the policemen. I took photos
of Maung Chan Tha’s dead body.
16
There were some parts of the village that were not burning, and some of us entered there,
and found the mutilated bodies of U Aung Thein Hla and U Ba Do. After a short time we all
gathered a short distance away from the burning village. It was evening, it became dark. We
could hear the Bengalis yelling things from their villages all night. We had to try to sleep out
in the open with just a couple of policemen.
Finally, at 2:00 am, a commander with some troops from the 352 Army base arrived. The
Bengalis must have known and they became quiet. The commander decided to bring the
villagers south about 5 miles, to Alay Than Kyaw - where there was a large police outpost.
When they were a few miles south, near Kha Ray Mying Village we found out that a bridge
had been blown up by the Bengalis, and we couldn’t cross it, so they had to turn back and
stay in the same place where we were picked up. So, then the army started shuttling kids
and old people with a jeep to the nearby Alodawpyie Monastery for temporary safety.
I took the very real photos of Maung Chan Tha and the other two men who were all brutally
murdered by the Bengali Muslims. I still have this Canon camera, the same one. The zoom
doesn’t work, but I still keep it and use it.
Ma Pwint Khine
interviewed in Sittwe, September 2017
[Maung Chan Tha, and his wife Ma Pwint Khine, were school
teachers, in Maungadaw Township. That area is majority
Muslim now, because of the aggression of the Muslims.
However, Maung Chan Tha and his wife were fully devoted
to educating the Muslim kids, and they both were popular
and well-liked - until June 8, 2012]
I am Ma Pwint Khine, the widow of the Headmaster of Post Basic Education Primary School.
We lived in Tha Ray Kone Baung Village, Maungdaw Township and worked at Zawmadat
School.
My husband, Saya (honorific teacher) Maung Chan Tha, was murdered during the 2012
attacks by Bengali Muslims. I suffered and mourned a lot because of my husband’s death in
2012, so did all of us local people. Now, the same thing has happened again, reminding us of
the past anxiety and panic we would feel by just seeing a Muslim. We have completely lost
our trust with the Bengali Muslims.
[In 2012] some of the students we were close with confided in us that ‘something is different
now’ and ‘perhaps we should go away’ but we did not really believe them because we had
lived together for a long time and terrible things would not happen.
17
So, we did not run away to a safer place to defend ourselves with many other villagers.
When they came and raided our village we couldn’t run away fast enough and they
mercilessly attacked us.
So, I would like to say that the 2012 event is the same as now [2017] in which we lost our
trust of the Bengalis, and we cannot live together with them in the future. I would like to
request the authorities to think about the situation carefully and solve it. Local indigenous
people know, deeply, that there is no security if Bengalis are around. So, security and safety
is the major important issue.
Now, I am living in Sittwe and teaching at the Basic Education Primary School, in Baukthisu
Quarter. After the 2012 conflict happened I could not dare live in Maungdaw, and I moved to
Sittwe.
Everybody around the world should know that what happened at that time was started by
them (Bengali Muslims) and they inflicted a lot of horrible trouble on us. Now I can clearly see
- by looking at what happened in the past - that there is no way to coexist with them. Now,
all of us know that. I would like to repeat: there is no way to live together with them.
Now the same experience, as in the past, has me grieving and feeling so sorrowful. There
were many people murdered in Kha Maung Sein village, and there are other villages with
similar disasters.
Local people from Khine Gyi and other villages were brutally slaughtered, and so many had
to flee to Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Rathedaung and Sittwe because they do not dare stay in
their home villages.
Seeing what happened recently makes me feel mournful. We, the indigenous people are
suffering a lot, and are facing many problems and difficulties. That’s why I say, how can we
continue to live together? There is no way to coexist at all. That is my own feeling.
This current conflict has made people homeless, leaving their paddy fields with what they
had planted, and they lost their cows and things because they could not return back to their
properties.
There is deep fear in our minds because we know what happened each day and each hour
there. So, I would like to request to all concerned people to think of the best way
to achieve a peaceful situation for us.
[She herself, was severely wounded, but managed to

get away and ran up a small hill, and then watched in
horror as her husband was being killed with swords by
his own 12-year old students, the same students that
liked him so much because he would let them ride his
motorcycle.]
18
Aung Tun Thar
Interviewed in Tha Ray Kone Baung, Sept 2017
[This is the place Saya Maung Chan Tha, and others

were killed in 2012. They recount that horrible day, and
also the Aug 25, 2017 attacks by the Bengali Muslims.]
Man 1:
I am Aung Tun Thar from Tha Ray Kone Baung Villlage.
My father U Ba Do was killed there on the road at the entrance

of the village. Another man, Aung Thein Hla was also killed
inside of the village when he came out of his home. He was
struck in the head and neck by Bengali swords. His head was
completely smashed.
When we got back to our village with security forces, the whole village
was engulfed in fire. When we found the three bodies, Aung Thein Hla's
body was still moving, but he later died.
My father U Ba Do, was dead. He was hit in the back of his head and
jaw with swords. His neck was broken.
Over there was where Saya Maung Chan Tha was killed. He was surrounded by many
Bengalis, the other teachers were already on the small hill. He was trying to join them.
First the Bengalis said, “we will not kill you Saya (honorific teacher).” Saya Maung Chan Tha
was holding a sword behind his back for defense. Then Bengalis struck him on his neck with
their swords and he was dead on the spot.
Question: So at that time, did you see it from the hill?
Answer: Yes, from the hill we saw how he was killed.
Question: Did they burn the village?
Answer: Yes, the entire village was burnt down to ashes. They came towards us only
after starting the village on fire.
Question: Do you remember the date?
Answer: It was the 8th of June, 2012, on a Friday. I remember it very well, I will never
forget it.
19
Question: What was your experiences on the August 25th 2017 attacks?
Answer: It was around 12:00 at night. We heard 14 or 15 huge explosions from several
parts of Maungdaw town. We didn't know which way to go, where would be safe.
They even attacked the Government forces, so we thought we were going to die.
Question: Did you flee from your village on that day.
Answer: No, we didn't. We left our village after 4 or 5 days. 30 men stayed in our village
to protect it from being burned again. Everyone else in our village fled over the
Mayu Mountains to Buthidaung.
Man 2:
We heard explosion around 1:00 AM on August 25th. We
gathered our people in the village. We could see torchlights
of Bengalis coming towards our village. We heard
explosions and gunfire in Alay Than Kyaw, Kyaung Taung
and Myin Hlut Villages.
We didn't have any security personnel in our village at that

time. We frantically discussed how to protect our village on
our own. We started to hear information that other places
in Maungdaw Township were under attack also.
We realized that we had no place to run to, and we also didn't have enough people to
protect our village. We stayed awake the whole night and the next day at 6:00 PM, six
policemen came to help protect our village.
So, we cannot live in Maungdaw without full security. Even in a year, we had to run 3 times
like this. The Government needs to take full responsibility to protect us.
If the Bengalis burn our village down again or kill us like they did in 2012, we will all be dead.
We will live here if we have better security, or if not, we will not live here. So, real security is
our first priority. We want a safe life.
20
Maung Tun Sein and Daw Hla
from Kha Ray Mying Village,
Interviewed in refugee camp in Sittwe,
September 2017
(Kha Ray Mying 1,2)
My name is Maung Tun Sein, and my wife is Daw

Hla, we are from Kha Ray Mying Village. In the
evening of August 24, 2017, we heard a lot of
gunfire in the distance, but we thought it came from the police outpost.
The next morning I found out that it did come from the outpost, because the outpost was
attacked by Bengalis, and the Bengalis were attacking many villages. So, I told my family,
and everyone in the village, that we had to run to somewhere safer, and so we all quickly
fled. We had to walk all day, and not be seen by Bengalis, so we walked through the
mountains, and had to sleep one night in the mountains, with no food and no water. We were
so frightened. The next day we got to Maungdaw town, and after that to Buthidaung, where
we were safe.
The next day our son said he wanted to go back to Maungdaw town where he wanted to get
his salary and a mobile phone card. My son said he and his friend will take a motorcycle and
they would be safe. They thought they could check on our village safely but, they were
blocked in front a large Bengali village. They were yanked off the motorcycle and hacked to
death. Even some police officers saw that, but were so outnumbered and couldn't get close
enough to stop it.
Then after my son and his friend were murdered the army came and confronted the Bengalis.
First they demanded to see the bodies. But the Bengalis refused and started shooting at the
army soldiers with their weapons. The army never did get the bodies.
We want the body of my son so that we can do the proper burial for him. We can't be at
peace if we can't find the body of our son. And, we can't go back to our village without our
son.
If the Bengalis are there we can never go back. This is the 3rd time we have had to run from
the Bengalis. We counted on our son for protection, and his salary supported us. How can
we survive now? We don't even want to return to our village. How can we survive without
him? We live in our own Rakhine State, and live our traditional Buddhist lives in our own
homeland. But these Bengalis come to our land, and kill us like this.
Who are these Bengalis? Why do they attack us again and again? And, why do we have to
run out from our own villages?
I have never in my life heard of Rakhine Buddhists killing Bengalis, but I hear, again and
again, about Bengalis killing people for no reason.
21
Why is this? Who are these crazy people, who think they can just take our land and kill all of
us? They want to make our land an Islamic State? What kind of justification do they think
they have? There is no freedom for Rakhine people.
Daw Hla speaks:

I can't even talk now because I lost my son.
After we were in the safety of Buthidaung, my son then went

back to Maungdaw, with his friend on a motorcycle. They
thought they could check on our village safely but, they were
blocked in front a large Bengali village. They were yanked off
the motorcycle and hacked to death. Even some police
officers saw that, but were so outnumbered and couldn't get
close enough to stop it.
We counted on our son for protection, and his salary

supported us. How can we survive now? I don't even want to return to our village. How can
we survive without him? I can never go back to our village.
Their daughter speaks:

My name is Aye Chan Sein, from Kha Ray Mying Village in Maungdaw Township.
There was gunfire late at night in the distance, we were scared. The
next morning my father found out that Bengali Muslims attacked
the security outpost. And, they were attacking other villages nearby
and killing and burning. So, my father said we must leave
immediately. We all were afraid of the Muslim terrorists.
I am Grade 7 in school, but now I couldn't go to school, I had to run

or die. I just wanted to be with my friends, without worrying about
anything.
And, I wanted to see my brother. His support allows me to go to

school. He supported our family. I just wanted to go to school and see my brother. This is the
3rd time we have had to flee from our village because of the Bengalis. But this time it was
even worse. My brother was killed by the Bengalis.
I don't want to go back to our village if there are any Bengalis around. I can only return if
there are no Bengalis. I want to see my brother so much. We can't even get his body from
the Bengalis.
Dear brother, please come back, please come back to me.
22
Maung Tun Sein and Daw Hla and family
Interviewed in Kha Ray Mying, October 2018
(Kha Ray Mying 3)
[I first interviewed this family in September 2017, in a

refugee camp in Sittwe]
Mother speaks: My son was killed by Bengali Muslims.

We could not even retrieve his body. Even the military
couldn't help - they couldn't find his body.
Daughter speaks: Our loss is that we don't have his body. If we lose our house, we don't
care, [it's replaceable]. But, we lost our brother, and we are so sad, and nobody can find his
body - even the military cannot find it.
On that day that he was killed he said to his mother, "I will take a car (or motorbike) from my
boss [the son is a driver] and go to get some important things.”
Daughter: At the time of the attacks we daughters were here in the village, and our parents
were in the next village, helping with attending someones cows. Our brother said, "I will take
our parents to Buthidaung for safety, and sisters, please stay here."
Mother and daughter: Now we have only our youngest daughter, not married, and our young
son who is in 8th grade in school. We, the parents, and our youngest daughter and young
son depended on our older son. He paid for his sister and his younger brother to go to
school, and many other things. Now we don't have a brother who can support us.
Father speaks: I only heard that my son died, but I didn't see it. We could not even find his
body. I'm always thinking of my son, and always remembering him.
Then our older daughter took all of us to Sittwe, where we became refugees. When we did
get back to our house from Sittwe, the house was empty [looted]. Now there is no business,
because we used to rely on our son. I am old, but now I have to chop wood and sell
firewood for a little money. I have nothing to say, I look up to the sky and I see nothing, I look
down to the earth and I see nothing - no hope, no business, nothing.
Mother and daughter: Our daughter and young son are going to school, she is in grade 8,
and he is in grade 6. The elder sisters got married.
Our youngest daughter was going to a private school, the tuition was 15,000 Kyat [$10 US] a
month, and she had to take a bus back and forth, and that was about 30,000 Kyat [$20 US] a
month. All together 45,000 Kyat [$30 US] a month.
23
Before the attacks in Aug 2017, this village was surrounded by large Bengali Muslim villages.
But now, most of the Bengalis are gone, however, there still are some Bengali villages with a
population of Bengalis only 2 miles away.
On Aug 24, 2017, late at night [hours before the attacks were launched] there were some
gunshots from the Bengali village to our village. One bullet hit the road near our home, and
another bullet hit just in front of our house. At first, I didn't believe that the Muslims could
have shot the guns. [It is strictly prohibited to have guns]
I wondered who could have shot guns? The police... the military….who?
In the early morning our whole village fled to the lake near the village to hide [in the thick
bushes] , and then the next day around 5 pm we fled somewhere else.
Before the gunshots at 11 pm, the night before, at around 8 or 9 pm, the Bengalis were
acting strangely. They were noticeably noisy, and gathering, and preparing for something -
something was strange. But, when the gunshots started I thought it might be police or army
fighting some bad people, or something, but, there had been no police or army around that
day.
After we fled the village we had to hide for 2 days from the surrounding Bengalis. We got to
Maungdaw, and after that to Buthidaung. It was then that our son went back to get some
valuables and money, but he and his friend got killed 30 minutes away from here.
Question: Where was he killed?
Answer: In Myo Thu Gyi Village, about 30 minutes from here.
Ma Oo Sein
Interviewed in Kha Ray Mying, October 2018
(Kha Ray Mying 4)
[The parents of the other young man that was killed]
I am Ma Oo Sein, 52 years old. I live in Kha Ray Mying

Village, southern Maungdaw Township.
I am so sad now, after the Bengali Muslims killed my son.

I'm devastated. When the Bengali Muslims attacked our village [Aug 25, 2017] we fled to the
forest. We hid in the forest for at least 2 days in great fear. Then we got to Buthidaung.
I can't even talk anymore.
24
U Maung Nyunt, Mro ethnicity
from Khine Gyi Mro Village,
interviewed in refugee camp near Maungdaw
town, September 29, 2017
(Khine Gyi 1,2)
I am going to tell you openly about our village and

the situation. The killings did not happen inside
our village. Bengali terrorists came to our farming
fields and killed our people, for no reason at all. Farmers from our village went to the distant
fields to work. Three of the young men were sharpening their hoes. And then, Bengali came
and shot them with guns.
We heard the gunfire from our village. At first we thought that the army troops and Bengali
terrorists were fighting somewhere up in the hills. When we heard more gunfire, we decided
to check on our people who had gone to the distant fields. Then we found the dead bodies
of our people there. We informed the army about this, and when soldiers arrived we
continued searching.
We found 5 bodies at first and 3 were missing. The next day, we continued searching for the
missing bodies, but we did not find them. And then, the following day as we continued
searching we found more bodies.
But, we could not find my sister, who was one of the missing people. However, we found her
clothes. We also heard that army troops and Bengali terrorists were fighting in Chin Khar Lee
Village. We were afraid to stay in our village.
We realized that we cannot protect ourselves with stick and swords from the Bengalis
because they even have automatic guns now. We have lost 8 of us, no more! We decided to
leave our village. We have lost everything. No food, no clothes and no money.
Question: Did they burn your houses or destroy them?
Answer: They weren't burned, but some were broken and destroyed.
We have lost our cows when we had to flee. We have lost our farm work and paddy fields
also, each of our villagers had 2 or 3 acres. We Mro people used to make a living by farming
and working the paddy fields. We are afraid to go back to our village if we have only
policeman for security.
Once our village had ten policemen, but they they got drunk every night. That is one of the
reasons that we were so frightened and had to leave the village.
We have lost 8 villagers, one of them was nearly 8 months pregnant. So, actually nine people
were killed.
25
(U Maung Nyunt will translate from Mro
language to Arakanese for the young lady and
her grandmother)
This young lady has 7 family members. When her

mother had gone to work in the field, on August 25,
around 7:30 AM, she heard gunfire. What she
heard was the gunfire from the Bengalis that killed
her mother.
She has a 1 year old child, but has lost everything, including her own mother. Her grandma
said they are very poor. And, her granddaughter has no mother now. Grandma has leg
problems and cannot hardly do any work for their livelihood. The young lady's family had 8
family members, 5 brothers and sisters, her mother who was killed, and father and grandma.
Question: So her mother was killed. Where is her father?
Answer: Her father is in Buthidaung.
Our village had 48 households, some families fled to Buthidaung. We are here because we
can't afford the transportation cost. This young lady is my daughter-in-law. Her husband is
my son.
U San Tun - Mro ethnicity

interviewed near Khine Gyi, October 2018
(Khine Gyi 3)
I am U San Tun - headman in Khine Gyi Mro Village. I used to live

in the remote mountains in northern Maungdaw Township, then I
moved to southern Maungdaw in 2013. We moved because there
was more education facilities for our children, and medical care,
and maybe better business. So, my family and other Mro families cooperated together and
made plans. There were 5 families from one Mro village, and 3 from another and 2 families
from another. We first moved to Khine Gyi Chaung Village in southern Maungdaw in 2013. I
applied to the authorities to build a new village in the mountains but nothing happened, and
then we moved to Khine Gyi Mro village. For our livelihood we farm the vegetable crops on
the mountain slopes, and raise pigs and chickens and goats.
On August 3, 2017, 8 of our Mro villagers - 3 men and 5 women - went to the mountain plots
to clear some area to farm. Muslims killed them all. Some were shot and some were hacked
death. One women was 8 months pregnant, so maybe there were 9 people killed.
26
On Aug 25, 2017, the Muslims launched attacks against 30 police posts in Maungdaw and
Buthidaung. After learning about those attacks we were very frightened to live in our village
deep in the mountains. So, we fled, in 3 trucks, to Buthidaung. We had to abandon our
village and lost many things - our vegetable fields, pigs, chickens, goats, and cows.
In Buthidaung we stayed in the Ataka High School / refugee camp for 2 weeks. And then we
stayed in Alodawpyae Monastery for 2 months. Then we moved from Alodawpyae
Monastery back to our area, to the Rakhine Khine Gyi Village School.
While we were staying there some township authorities and government officials came and
asked us if we would like to move back to our Khine Gyi Mro village in the mountains. We
said, ”No, we can't move back there, it is too dangerous, even though we were there for
many generations we cannot go back.” The officials asked us, "Where would you like to
live?” We answered, "If we don't have a safe place to live we need to stay next to the road,
with cooking pots and plastic roofs.” So, the government built a temporary camp here, with
120 houses, for 3 affected villages. The donors that helped us included the Minister of Bago
and the Minister of Yangon.
Now we are afraid to go to the forest alone - even if we are hungry - but sometimes we go in
groups, looking for frogs, fish, and mushrooms. Now it is not safe. But, out of the mountains,
here on the road, we are safe - but we are not safe in the mountains.
In Buthidaung Township there is a village - Kyauk Sar Taing Village - it is an ethnic

nationality village [half Khami ethnicity and half Rakhine, and I, Rick Heizman, have also been
to and interviewed village people suffering the same abuses from the Bengali Muslims].
There is a mountain path to get there, [Khine Gyi Village is on the western slopes of the Mayu
Mountains and Kyauk Sar Taing Village is on the eastern slopes] but in the middle is ARSA.
Deep in the mountains between those two villages the army discovered ARSA training
bases, with weapons, bombs, and tunnels, and destroyed them. I don't know how many
weapons were found, or how many terrorists were killed. Shortly after the army discovered
and destroyed that base, ARSA killed our 8 villagers. It may have been the Muslims
retaliation, and their plans. Our Khine Gyi Mro Village was deep in the mountains, and
apparently too close to the ARSA training base, and the militants knew that we might
discover or hear them. So, they wanted to drive us out of the mountains, and they knew that
if they kill a bunch of us then we we will be so frightened that we will abandon our village.
Because of our Mro village the militants could not carry supplies of food to their training
camp, because if seen, it would be odd, and obvious. That's why they killed those 8 villagers
- to drive us away.
27
Before, we had no problem with the Bengali Muslims. They made problems and violence
against Rakhine, but not against Mro. But now, we Mro are the number one target of the
Muslims.
In Khine Gyi Mro Village 8 of us were killed, and also in Kaung Dine Village, in northern
Maungdaw Township, many Mro were also killed and the whole village was burned.
Also, my son, and my brother were killed by the Muslims. I am very sad, and I don't sleep
well, and I'm always thinking - “what can we do?”
I think the reason why they targeted us Mro people so much is that we helped guide the
army through the mountains to the hidden terrorist training camps, and that is why they
targeted us.
Question: Would you like to go back to your village to live - if there is security?
Answer: No, security can only protect us in the village. Security cannot protect us when we
go to the vegetable plots, and when we go to collect frogs and snails, and when we go
fishing.
Moe Hlaing Than - Mro ethnicity

interviewed near Khine Gyi, October 2018
(Khine Gyi 4)
I am Moe Hlaing Than. Now that we are here, along the road,
compared to before it is much safer for us. Absolutely we do not
want to go back to our Mro village, it is too dangerous because
of Bengalis. We want to live here.
Why do we not want to go back there to our village? Because even still it is too dangerous
for us.
Question: If everything was totally safe, with no problems, would you then go back?
Answer: Actually we would like to go back to our mountain village, and be happy like we
were before, but we all greatly fear being murdered by Bengalis.
28
Unknown name,
from unknown village,
interviewed in refugee camp, in Sittwe,
September 2017
(Guns, Swords, Bombs)
Before, we lived peacefully in our Rakhine Buddhist village,

farming and fishing.
My brother's son was tortured, maimed, and hacked to

death. They cut out his tongue, and cut off his ears, and
hacked his arms and legs and neck. He had gone out to the forest and never came back.
The police eventually found his body. We could not even recognize his face, it was so
mutilated. We were so sickened to see his mutilated body. How can the Bengalis be so cruel?
When we had to go out of our village and encounter Bengalis they were always so
troublesome. We could live peacefully with others – Hindus, Mro, Khamti and others.
The Bengalis attacked our village with homemade bombs, so many bombs exploding, in the
middle of the night. We didn't even know which way to run.
They were about 120 people living in our village which had Rakhine, Hindu, Diagnet, Mro and
others. All of us get along with each other fine, but all of us have so much trouble with the
Bengalis. I am fifty six years old, and we have had to run from Bengali attacks before, but
this time is the worst.
We have done nothing bad to them. We are kind and honest. Before, they came to our
village, young and old, and it was no problem. But, then they can get so crazy and storm into
our village to kill us all. We were always kind to them, and we did nothing to harm them. How
can they think it is okay to kill us? The Bengalis are so cruel. Before killing a person that
person will suffer so greatly – their arms and legs get cut off, their tongue and ears cut off,
their head can be cut off.
We have lost everything. We just only have the clothes we were wearing when we escaped.
The monk of the village quickly arranged for a couple of cars or trucks to evacuate the
village, but still it wasn't enough for all the villagers. We had a car to escape the madness,
but it was impossible to take all of the villagers in it. Everybody wanted to escape
immediately.
If we went back to our village and I even imagined the face of a Bengali I would be so scared
I would run away and never come back. We can only stay in our village if there is better
security and more security police men. If not, then we can't go back. We cannot live with the
fear of being tortured and killed. Our village is surrounded by Bengali villages, so many
Bengalis. And we are in such fear. How can we live like this? They have guns, swords, and
bombs to use against us.
Some of their bombs exploded and some did not explode. If all of their bombs had exploded
then we would just be in pieces on the ground.
29
Maung Chay
from an unknown village,
Interviewed in Sittwe, September 2017
(grandparents tragedy)
When I was a child, my grandfather told me about what the

Bengali Muslims did to them in 1942. My grandmother’s parents
- both of them - were killed in front of her own eyes.
She was only a 10 year old child at that time. The sight of that was so horrible that she
became unconscious. They did not kill her but they kidnapped her and took her along with
them. Later she was forced to marry their elder son. My grandfather told me about this
frequently, when I was child. There is more than just distance between brother and sister.
The entire future of each was different.
In 1990, I went to Tha Ray Kone Baung Village and met with my grandmother there. She
could not speak Rakhine language well. She called my name and spoke using the Muslim’s
Bengali language.
There were so many Buddhists killed in 1942. My grandparents and relatives fled to Dinajpur
(a town and refugee camp in British India) with the help of the British. One of my
grandfathers was slashed with a sword on the side of his face. Many Rakhine Buddhists had
to flee. That 1942 massacre and mayhem was told to me by my grandfather when I was
young.
While I was growing up, two sons of my grandmother from Tha Ray Kone Baung Village,
often visited us when they came to Maungdaw because of health issues. But we did not
have much of a relationship with them. The elder son of my grandmother, named Nuroislam,
is still alive and lives there. I moved to Thandwe after 1990 because we could do better
business there.
Around 1990, a policeman named Ko Win Aung, was hacked to death by Muslim people.
One of the monks from Myo Oo monastery at the entrance gate of Maungdaw, saw the event
and shouted when Muslim people were trying to dispose of the corpse. When the monk
shouted, we Rakhine organized and move in on that place and found the corpse of
policeman. I was a young age at that time, I helped to lift the dead body and I had blood
stains on both of my hands. This kind of tragedy happened in Maungdaw too often.
30
These Bengali Muslims could kill whenever they met Rakhine Buddhists in any way or any
place, and then they try to dispose of the dead bodies so that they will not be blamed. But,
no Kalars (term for Bengali) are killed by Rakhine people at all.
And then, sometime in 1990, there was a one family with 5 members from the northern part
of Maungdaw - the whole family was killed. There were two children, one grandfather, and
the wife and husband. All were beheaded and the children’s testicles were mutilated. For that
tragedy we helped for the funeral. Those kinds of events really happened. Not only people
from here were killed but security guards were also murdered and their weapons were taken.
These same events frequently happened here. When we were children, there were not many
Kalar villages, and their population was not too much. Over time though, 200 households
became 400/500/700/800 households and the population increased greatly.
We often visited Kalar villages where we saw young girls around 13 years old arranged to get
married with rich men - who might already have two or three wives. Their population is
increasing day by day. Women give birth to children annually, as they had no jobs, and their
duty was delivering babies only. Young girls, when they matured, were not allowed to go
outside and not permitted to go to school.
Small villages with 200 households in the past became 700-1000 households. In 1998, the
Bengalis tried to seize our land after a breakdown of authority. We local Rakhine people had
to defend our western border with our own strength and unity.
And then, Kalars are doing huge business with narcotics trafficking. The rich people became
richer by making money from the drug business. When they became rich, they flatter
themselves by giving money to poor people. The main business of rich people is drugs.
They tried to take over our land in 1998, but, it didn't happen because we could defend
ourselves. It also happened in 2012 and 2016.
31
Ba Aye
based in a humanitarian camp near Maungdaw,
Rakhine State, Myanmar
Interviewed at the camp, September 2017
(Ba Aye)
[Ba Aye founded a relief group called Rakhine

Amyothar Organization (ARG). They are based in a
camp 6 miles south of Maungdaw]
Over there is Kha Ray Mying Village of Maungdaw Township. The police outpost is between
the village and the monastery.
That village, Du Chee Ya Tan is where Sergeant Aung Kyaw Thein was murdered in 2014.
Puddles of his blood were found inside the mosque and some of his equipment was also
found nearby.
On the evening of August 26, 2017, around 5:30 PM, in the rice fields in front of Du Chee Ya
Tan village, many Bengalis gathered, fired guns, and did some loud war dances.
After that, around 6:30 PM, many Bengalis with uniforms from Nu Ru Lar Bengali village
came and joined the mob and then attacked the Kha Ray Mying police outpost around 7:00
PM.
The fighting was very intense and army troops arrived as back up around 9:00 PM. If they
didn't come, the police outpost would have been defeated.
The Bengalis retreated later, but gunfire was still heard until midnight.
It was early 2016 in August or September, an ethnic Mro teacher from Tha Yat Oak (Mro)
village was murdered. Then the Mro villagers abandoned the village and moved to the east of
Shwe Ba Ho Village, and started living there in a new village - Kin Chaung.
Rakhine local civilians informed and warned the authorities again and again that Bengali
extremists and terrorists were in the mountains, but the authorities did not believe that.
They did not believe that so many Bengalis were hiding and training in the mountains.
They were very wrong.
32
Kaung Hla Nyo - Mro ethnicity 1
interviewed in refugee camp, Rakhine State, summer
2012
(2012 Old man 1)
The situation was getting bad [in June, 2012]. One day we
could hear the Bengali Muslims yelling loudly as they were
approaching our village to attack and kill us. So, I let the pigs
loose. I cut the ropes holding them. I knew that it would give
us a few extra minutes as we ran for our lives.
If there were 100 Bengali attackers, there were 5000 that would come through the village and
loot everything.
The day before the attack, around 5 pm, my son returned home. He was not feeling so well,
and had diarrhea. And, my daughter in law, living with us, had newborn twins.
The Bengalis attacked in the early morning darkness, and all of us had to flee or hide so
quickly we were all immediately separated. My son had stepped out to relieve himself - I
couldn’t find him quick enough, and my daughter in law with her baby twins ran one way and
I went another way. But releasing the pigs probably save some us us from being caught. I
ran out of the village and hid in a latrine. and hid - still in the village. Luckily, our family
survived.
When it became light in the early morning I got out of the village and encountered 2 of our
Mro women who had also hid nearby. We thought more of our village people would be found
hiding in the forest, so we started walking towards the forest. First we found one woman with
her two children in the forest. The only thing they had was one extra longyi, which the 2
children needed at night because they were cold. Then as we continued walking in the forest
and up the mountain we found 4 more villagers. Everyone had become separated as they
escaped. Parents were trying to find a daughter, kids were looking for parents.
All of us were still very afraid to go back to our village, so we had to stay in the forest up the
mountain. There were 9 of us villagers together by then, and we decided to have 3 people go
down to see if Bengalis were in our village or not, and if it seemed safe enough to return to
the village. They saw that there were many Bengali Muslims in and around the village, so
they returned to us on the mountain, and told them what they saw.
We went to the mountain above Maw Ra Waddy Village, where we have vegetable
plantations high on the mountain. We thought that we would find more of our villagers there.
And, we desperately needed food. But, when we arrived there we found none of our fellow
villagers, however, at least there was some rice and cooking pots.
Then, one more man from their village came. The next day we came down from the
mountain, but not to our village. We were hoping to see security forces. 4 people were sent
to check the situation at our village. They checked and returned and said that they saw no
Bengalis there.
33
But, as they crossed the small river they saw some Bengalis who ran away when they saw
the Mro villagers. They went to the Zaw Madat Police Outpost nearby. They asked the police
if it was safe or not to return to Khine Gyi Village. And, they told the police that there were
still some villagers on the mountain where they had left them and can the police help get
them down. The police outpost telephoned the larger station and 5 policemen came to help
bring the rest of us down off the mountain.
By then there were 13 of us Khine Gyi villagers. We all had to stay in the police outpost for 20
days. The police outpost was very full with about 500 refugees from Alay Than Kyaw and
other villages taking shelter there.
At the time of the sudden attack, a 93 year old woman could not walk, had to be left there,
as her family members had to run in terror. The only thing they could do was to give her
some money - if she was killed it would help her in the next life, or she might be able to use
the money to ‘buy’ her freedom. Fortunately the next morning security forces arrived and
found her still alive, and brought her to Alay Than Kyaw.
A long time ago, when I was young, there was a young woman who was kidnapped and
forced to convert to Islam and to marry a Muslim. She was from Tha Ray Kone Baung
Village, and she was kidnapped by the Bengali Muslims from Tike Tok Pyin Village. The
Muslims had slaughtered her husband and her young son, and because she was young and
beautiful they didn’t kill her. They took her back to Tike Tok Pyin Village and forced her to
convert to Islam, marry a Muslim man, and renounce all things about her Rakhine Buddhist
identity.
I met her around 60 years after she was abducted. She was then an old woman. Her family
members and relatives wanted her to come back and live with them in their Rakhine village.
Even her Muslim husband did not want her anymore, and told her to go back to where she
came from. But, she said that she was Muslim for so long, and could not even remember
much of the Arakanese language, and being so old, she said she should just stay in the
Muslim village and die. She was about 80 years old when I met her, and shortly after that she
died. She had many children - as the Muslims do, but they are all Muslim, of course.
There were so many villages that originally were Rakhine Buddhist villages, but the Muslims
came in large numbers and attacked and killed our people so many times. They killed our
people and took our land and villages.
When I was young here, and nearly all villages were Rakhine, we Buddhists had festivals and
celebrations every month. These 3 villages would have a Buddhist festival and invite all the
people, and then the next week those 3 villages would have a festival, and then the next
week another 3 villages….
At Thingyan (Burmese New Year) time (also known as Water Festival) we celebrated it the
traditional way - by going to the temple and washing the Buddha statues. These days people
in the cities just throw water on everyone - things are different now. And we used real silver
bowls for offerings, and our traditional lacquerware. And we wore our beautiful traditional
clothes during those festival times, and gold jewelry. The women looked very beautiful with
the traditional hair styles.
34
Name unknown - Mro ethnicity
from Khine Gri (Khine Gyi) Village,
interviewed in refugee camp, Rakhine State,
summer 2012
(2012 Old man 3)
In the days before WW2, my grandfather built a pedi

(Buddhist stupa/pagoda) in Tha Ray Kone Baung Village.
My grandfather is U Maung Phru, and my grandmother is
Daw Gro Nyo. My mother is Pan Sein Oo, and my father
is U Htwe Phyu. I am the 3rd of 6 siblings. We are from
Khine Gri Village. Our family, like most families there, lived
as farmers.
I did not go to a school to learn, we did not have a school then. I was educated in the
monastery.
[Khine Gri Village is in the western lower parts of the Mayu Mountains, about 15 miles south
of Maungdaw town. He and most of the villagers are Mro ethnic minority people. Tha Ray
Kone Baung is the larger village in the flat land , near Khine Gri]
Starting in 1942, as the chaos of the war came closer and closer to us, Bengali Muslims
destroyed the pagoda 3 times. Each time my grandparents rebuilt it.
During those WW2 years of 1942 - 1944, the Bengali Muslims killed or drove out all of the
Buddhists, and destroyed every pagoda that they could throughout the land.
One time after it was destroyed completely, local people said that they sometimes saw
strangely colored light emanating from the site at night. Strangers, who did not even know
that there used to be a zedi there saw the colored light and remarked about it.
Two times, in my lifetime, I have experienced being face to face and having to fight for my life
with Bengali Muslims trying to kill me.
Around that time [1942] Khine Gri Village had about 80-90 houses. Khine Gri also had an old
zedi, and it was also destroyed by the Muslims.
My grandfather was the Village Chief, and also was the administrator for southern
Maungdaw Township. My grandfather administered the area from Maungdaw Town down to
Inn Din Village. The few Bengali villages, at that time, used to be far away, but then they
increased rapidly, and became closer and more menacing.
We started to hear that the Bengalis had begun to attack and kill Buddhists all around
Maungdaw and we quickly fled, before we were trapped. My grandparents were killed by the
Muslims in Wabeik Village. from our village.
35
We fled all the way to the Lemro River, walking many days, and crossing 3 mountain ranges.
We had to cross many rivers, and we survived by eating banana trees, and other jungle food.
On the way, as we were fleeing, sometimes we would see Bengalis, and they would try to kill
us - even though we were leaving our land. We would have to run for our lives, and they
would be chasing us with swords, and sometimes guns and bombs. People who could not
run fast enough sometimes were knocked down and hacked to death. Men and boys had to
protect our women. Sometimes monks had their robes grabbed and pulled off, and the
monks had to run naked. My family members all survived, but many families lost members
as we continued to the Lemro River.
When we finally crossed the last mountains and reached the Lemro River there were many
Rakhine villages, and they warmly shared their food and shelter with us. We lived there for 13
years, before returning to our homeland.
I got married when we reached the Lemro River. I was 25 years old. My wife was one of our
villagers fleeing with us. She was from Gran Chaung Village. I have been married 3 times.
My first wife had a child, but the baby died, and then she died. My 2nd wife was from Kyein
Chaung Village. She also had a child, but both died. And then I married again. My 3rd wife
was from Taung Bro Village.
———————————————————————————————-
INTERVIEW CATEGORIES
• Southern Maungdaw Township
• Northern Maungdaw Township
• Maungdaw Town and Area
• Southern Buthidaung Township
• Northern Buthidaung Township
• Rathedaung Township
• Hindu victims
• Ethnic Minority victims: Mro, Thet, Diagnet, Khami
• Others: Yangon, Sittwe, Mrauk-U
A DATABASE IS COMING: Enabling you to find all interviews with these types of parameters:
• Rescued / saved by Army
• Used to get along / employ / work with Bengali Muslims
• Bengalis would not buy, sell, or interact in any way with non-Muslims
• ARSA or RSO terrorist group info
• Terrorist training camps found
• Eyewitnesses to Bengali Muslims burning their own homes and villages
• Interviews by: Hindus, Muslims, Khami, Thet, Diagnet, Mro
• Talk about 1942 Massacre times, or 1950s Mujahid campaign
36
ALL INTERVIEWS ARE ON VIDEO AT:
https://arakan-reality.smugmug.com/ARAKAN-the-CONFLICT-VIDEOS/Interviews-October-2018/
and:
https://arakan-reality.smugmug.com/ARAKAN-the-CONFLICT-VIDEOS/INTERVIEWS/
and on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXpfh5XdTXbt6mNgNzGjZ7A
Produced by Rick Heizman June 18, 2019 Facebook: Arakan Eagle 7
Photos and Videos of Arakan at: arakan-reality.smugmug.com - go to Conflict videos
Photos and Videos of all of Myanmar at: rickheizman.smugmug.com
Papers at scribd.com/rheizman
Email: rickmusic4@gmail.com burmafriend88@gmail.com
The BEST and most ACCURATE FILM about the CONFLICT in RAKHINE STATE, MYANMAR:
ARAKAN - ANCIENT BUDDHIST KINGDOM, ENDANGERED BY JIHAD - in 4 parts:
https://arakan-reality.smugmug.com/ARAKAN-the-CONFLICT-VIDEOS/MY-EXCELLENT-MOVIE/
37

Interviews: Southern Maungdaw

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INTERVIEWS by RICK HEIZMAN

in SOUTHERN MAUNGDAW TOWNSHIP

The wife of U Maung Ni,

My husband, was attacked and killed on August 25, 2017,

My husband and I and our sons finished lunch in our

I am Kyaw Kyaw from Inn Din Village. I am a driver.

I would like to say, when international community and

Maung Phyu Thee

I am Maung Phyu Thee, from Inn Din Village.

I am Thein Tun, from Inn Din Village.

We used to work together with Bengali Muslims - no problem.

My name is Ma Shwe Sein, and my husband is a teacher. For a

[At Kyauk Pan Du there is a significant Hindu temple in a

In 1993, July 31, I moved from Kyauktaw Township to Kyauk

I am Thein Maung Oo. Since 1997, I lived here in Kyauk Pan

I am Maung Kan Gri. In 1993, July 10, I moved from

I am Ma Thein Nu Sein. In 1993, I moved from Sittwe to

Since the 24th of August, 2017, the behavior and

Question: What kind of weapons did they have?

My name is Daw Thein Nyo. On June 8, 2012, I was not here in

That’s what happened in 2012.

My name is Ba Maung. On June 8, 2012, my father, U Ba

My name is Hla Than Maung. I came here in 1993, and have

My name is Daw Sein Nu. I am 85 years old. On June 8, 2012,

Some villagers came to the mountain and took me away.

I am Moe Shay from Tha Ray Kone Baung Village. On June 8,

The Bengalis started retreating to their

to achieve a peaceful situation for us.

[She herself, was severely wounded, but managed to

[This is the place Saya Maung Chan Tha, and others

I am Aung Tun Thar from Tha Ray Kone Baung Villlage.

My father U Ba Do was killed there on the road at the entrance

Question: So at that time, did you see it from the hill?

Answer: Yes, from the hill we saw how he was killed.

Question: Did they burn the village?

after starting the village on fire.

Question: Do you remember the date?

Question: Did you flee from your village on that day.

Mayu Mountains to Buthidaung.

We didn't have any security personnel in our village at that

My name is Maung Tun Sein, and my wife is Daw

Daw Hla speaks:

After we were in the safety of Buthidaung, my son then went

We counted on our son for protection, and his salary

Their daughter speaks:

I am Grade 7 in school, but now I couldn't go to school, I had to run

And, I wanted to see my brother. His support allows me to go to

Dear brother, please come back, please come back to me.

[I first interviewed this family in September 2017, in a

Mother speaks: My son was killed by Bengali Muslims.

Question: Where was he killed?

Answer: In Myo Thu Gyi Village, about 30 minutes from here.

[The parents of the other young man that was killed]

I am Ma Oo Sein, 52 years old. I live in Kha Ray Mying

I am so sad now, after the Bengali Muslims killed my son.

I can't even talk anymore.

(Khine Gyi 1,2)

I am going to tell you openly about our village and

Question: Did they burn your houses or destroy them?

This young lady has 7 family members. When her

Question: So her mother was killed. Where is her father?

Answer: Her father is in Buthidaung.

U San Tun - Mro ethnicity