Rohingya volunteers report pay disparity under Arakan Army rule
Rohingya teachers report lower wages than Rakhine colleagues, while trained Rohingya men say they are being used for manual labor
NAYPYIDAW, Burma (MNTV) — Rohingya working under institutions controlled by the Arakan Army in western Burma say they are being paid less than some Rakhine workers and denied access to formal roles, adding to concerns over discrimination against the Muslim minority in areas now governed by the armed group.
In Buthidaung Township, Rohingya volunteer teachers receive about 130,000 Myanmar kyats ($31) a month, compared with roughly 200,000 kyats ($48) paid to some Rakhine teachers, according to local residents who spoke to Rohingya Khobor.
Rohingya have been recruited to teach and perform other community work as local authorities struggle with staffing shortages.
The reported disparity comes as the Arakan Education Department prepares to introduce a monthly salary of 200,000 kyats for education workers, including volunteer teachers, beginning in late October.
It remains unclear whether Rohingya teachers will receive the same salary under the new system.
Separate accounts from Ywet Nyo Taung have raised concerns over the treatment of Rohingya men recruited into structures operating under the United League of Arakan and its armed wing, the Arakan Army, commonly known as the ULA/AA.
Local residents said some Rohingya men who underwent military or security-related training were subsequently assigned manual labor instead of formal military or administrative positions.
Their reported duties include building roads, carrying rice, cutting bamboo, planting trees, farming and gardening, as well as clearing structures for road projects.
The precise status of the men and whether they can refuse the work remain unclear. Some personnel reportedly receive rice and cash allowances, but details of those arrangements could not be independently confirmed.
The accounts emerge against a broader record of abuses against Rohingya under Arakan Army control.
Human rights groups and United Nations investigators have previously documented forced recruitment, forced labor, arbitrary detention and other abuses affecting Rohingya as the armed group expanded its control across northern Rakhine State.
The predominantly Muslim Rohingya have faced decades of persecution and restrictions in Burma, where authorities have denied most of them citizenship and treated them as outsiders despite generations of residence in Rakhine.
Hundreds of thousands were driven into neighboring Bangladesh during the Burmese military’s 2017 campaign.
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