Arakan News Agency
MAUNGDAW, Myanmar — Violence against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority has created a refugee crisis that has left a severe labor shortage in the western state of Arakan, threatening the region’s largely agrarian economy.
Border guards could be seen building graves on the scorched ruins of Inn Din during a government-guided tour Tuesday. The military admitted in January to murdering 10 Rohingya in this village that was once home to about 4,000 of the minority group.
A 45-year-old Buddhist woman living on the village’s west side, which is separated by a dirt road, accused the Rohingya,
Unkempt fields surround the coastal village. Although people here say they cannot work for safety reasons, authorities contend that the security situation is improving. Another explanation for the abundance of uncultivated land is the lack of Rohingya workers who once cared for the fields. Many members of the minority group have fled to Bangladesh.
A state official that administers the Maungdaw district, which includes Inn Din, said that crop production in 2017 was below past years. He added that Rohingya have not only abandoned their own farmland, but that their absence is making it difficult to cultivate the fields of other locals where they used to work.
The labor shortage will have an inevitable impact on the next growing season, which starts at the end of this month. Arakan state produces rice and other staple crops.
In a village where some Rohingya still live, the population has dwindled from about 400 to a fourth of that. A lack of workers has reduced productivity despite the use of farm machines lent by the state government. A village official said that yields have fallen 20%.
Clashes between Rohingya and security forces threw the northern part of Arakan into confusion as the economy froze and prices of food and daily goods soared. In Maungdaw, the main town, business is picking up again and daily life is gradually returning to normal. But any economic recovery will be hobbled should the labor shortage keep a lid on agricultural production.
Myanmar’s 2014 national census shows that 61% of people in Arakan state are involved in primary sectors of the economy like agriculture. The dependence on farming is even greater in the state’s undeveloped north, where many Rohingya once lived.
