Widowers in northern Arakan to wait for three years for remarriage

Kaladan News

January 1, 2009

Widowers in northern Arakan to wait for three years for remarriage

Buthidaung, Arakan State: In Northern Arakan State, including the townships of Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung, widowers have to wait for a minimum of three years to re-marry, a widower from Buthidaung said on condition of anonymity.

A widower named Hussain (not his real name), who hails from Buthidaung Township told Kaladan Press Network that his wife had died of cancer three months ago. She had left three children and they did not have a grandmother also, who could look after them.

Hussain is a farmer, who spends most of his time cultivating land and is therefore unable to look after his children. He goes to work after handing over the children to a neighbor, for the day.

After collecting all the necessary documents, the widower submitted an application to the Nasaka, Burma's border security force, to seek permission for remarriage. However, the concerned Nasaka officer asked him to wait for at least three years to seek permission. After speaking to the Nasaka officer, the widower said he had been facing difficulties with his children and asked them to grant permission. The Nasaka, however, did not relent.

In order to get permission for remarriage, there are more formalities. Initially, the applicant had to get forms from the concerned office where he had to pay kyat 5,000. After collecting the forms, these would be filled up by the clerk of the Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC), where the applicant had to pay kyat 3,000. Then the application would be sent to the VPDC office for a recommendation letter from the VPDC Chairman, where again the applicant had to pay kyat 5,000, a bridegroom's father, who declined to be named, said.

Afterwards, the application would be sent to the Sarapa (Military Intelligence) of Nasaka for a recommendation letter, where the candidate would have to pay kyat 15,000. Followed by this, the application including two photographs would be sent to the Doctor of Nasaka for medical checking and again for a recommendation where the candidate had to pay kyat 10,000. After that the application with all other documents would be sent to the Immigration of Nasaka, where two witnesses including the father and mother are called. They are asked whether the bride and the bridegroom agree to be with each other.

Subsequently, the application is sent to the local Nasaka headquarters for checking, where the candidate has to pay kyat 15,000. The new bridegroom has to wait for at least three months to get permission. If the candidate is a widower, the time span of three years is compulsory.

If the new bridegroom pays a bribe of kyat 200,000 to 300,000 to the concerned authority, he is likely to get permission within 15 days, a close aide of Nasaka said.

Later all the documents have to be sent to the local Nasaka camp, where the candidate again has to pay kyat 5,000. ##