Nasaka Border Guard Force Abolished

15 July 2013

Burma’s notorious border guard force, the Nasaka, was abolished by President Thein Sein on July 12, the government announced on Sunday. The brief announcement on the president office’s website gave no reasons for the reforms of the force. The Nasaka comprises army and police officers and customs and immigration department officials. It controls Burma’s western border with Bangladesh and administers parts of northern Arakan State. It has a heavy presence in the Rohingya-majority Maungdaw and Bauthidaung townships, where the population has suffered under decades of human rights abuses under the Nasaka, which controls many aspects of life and administers the townships.