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Sitting on wooden school benches, we have the full-attention of fourteen villagers. Half of them are women, their faces draped with white headscarves. They stare at us stiffly as we ask them to tell us about their work and livelihood opportunities. The first woman introduces herself as a widow and mother of six. The next woman begins to speak as the other cuts back in. "We cannot work because we cannot move from here", she says. The men nod their heads and shake their hands, indignant in their agreement.
Since the 2012 violence, the community has been caged in by fences meant to separate and protect. They cannot return to their businesses in town, nor can they send children out to school. There is a 'special ward' reserved for them at the district hospital, but getting there quickly is almost impossible: they are not allowed to travel without seeking prior permission from the authorities.
Only one man says he is able to trade with communities beyond the fence. The vendors willing to come to him are few and far between. Even if Myanmar citizens are allowed to come in and out, most are too afraid. The expert we'd flown in from Yangon presses on, "What kind of crop do you cultivate? Do you have ponds? Would you be interested in crab farming?"
He's missing the point. "We have no land," the men explain. The paddies barely twenty metres from where we sit are surrounded by high barbed wire fences. "The military owns the land. It is too expensive for us to rent,"he adds.
Over ten thousand people live in the village; 85% are unemployed. There is a primary school, but many children do not attend. The midday sun on the metal roof turns the classroom into a furnace.
"My children do not want to go," one mother tells us, "It is too hot for them to concentrate."
Even with an education, their futures look bleak. As we drive through the check points and back to the downtown area, I try to picture myself in their shoes: they haven't been able to make this 15 minute journey for over five years. It is more than unfair, it is unimaginable.
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