E/CN.4/1993/62 page 73 justified its intervention by stating that the worshippers had broken the seals placed on the doors of the mosque, encircled it with cannons and fired at the crowd with heavy machine guns. Soldiers are also said to have thrown grenades inside the building. According to the sources, there appears to be a government policy of moving non-Muslim Burmese into northern Rakhine State in an effort to displace the people the government calls ’foreigners’. Muslims are said to have been virtually prisoners of their provinces since 1964, not being allowed to travel even between villages within a single township. The population transfers are said to have intensified the persecution of Muslims. The following specific cases were brought to the attention of the Special Rapporteur: Abdul Shokur, 50, a watchmaker, part-time farmer and village teacher of Islam from Kandaung village, Buthidaung township, stated that before May 1990, pressure on Muslims used to be sporadic. Every Muslim had an identity card which designated him or her as a ’foreigner’ without Burmese citizenship. No Muslim could travel without a permit, especially to Rangoon. The fee for obtaining a permit was 4,000 to 5,000 Denga (US$600 to 750), or 10 times the average monthly salary in Akyab District. Muslims were frequently told they were not Burmese but from Bangladesh. The persecution of Muslims is said to have become commonplace after the May 1990 elections. Mosques were at first locked up, and then destroyed throughout the area with forced Muslim labour, and Buddhist temples were reportedly built in their place. Agricultural land was confiscated from Muslims for military use or distributed to non-Muslims in housing projects built with forced Muslim labour. About 150 Muslim homes in Kandaung village were expropriated in favour of non-Muslims and 150 new buildings were built to house the newcomers. Non-Muslim newcomers reportedly received one cow, land, as well as military and agricultural training. The military training of civilians, including the use of arms, increased the level of abuse against the Muslims, as they frequently joined soldiers in beating and looting. Random harassment of Muslims increased as well. Abdul Shokur further reported that one day soldiers discovered him teaching the Koran to children. They ridiculed him, threw the book on the ground and stomped it with their boots. It was at this point that he decided to flee to Bangladesh with his family. Abdul Salam, 25, from Kandaung village, Buthidaung township, reported that a housing project for urban non-Muslims had been built during 1991 on Muslim land by forced labour in which he had taken part. Soldiers and non-Muslim civilians had also abducted Muslim men to train the newcomers in agricultural activities, in much the same way forced labour crews were collected for road construction. He reported that non-Muslim civilians were provided with military training and weapons, which prompted the random harassment, bullying and beating of Muslims. Nurul Eslam, 20, a student of Islam from Kuansibaung village, Maungdaw township, reported that in March 1991, all Islamic schools in his village were closed, on orders ’from above’, according to the soldiers. Harassment by troops included orders for all Muslims to get out of Burma and ’go back’ to Bangladesh.