myanmar ethnic cleansing

Myanmar Rejects Citizenship Reforms for Rohingyas, Suggested by Western Diplomats

While Myanmar is following 80 out of 88 suggested reforms, it denies to amend the 1982 law–that would provide full citizenship to Rohingya refugees.

Yangon: A senior Myanmar official has told Western diplomats that a proposal to review a citizenship law that effectively renders most Rohingya Muslims stateless could not be implemented, five people present at the meeting in Denmark in early June told Reuters.

At a meeting in Copenhagen on June 8, Myanmar‘s Social Welfare Minister Win Myat Aye told a group of diplomats, analysts and members of a commission chaired by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan that eight of its recommendations – including one that asks authorities to take steps to amend the 1982 law – were problematic in the current political climate and could not be immediately fulfilled, the people present said.

“He made it very clear that citizenship reform was a non-starter,” said one of the people at the meeting. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because Myanmar had requested the talks be confidential.

Win Myat Aye and government spokesman Zaw Htay did not answer calls seeking comment.

Amending the law, which largely restricts citizenship to members of what it terms “national races” – the 135 ethnic groups deemed by the state to be indigenous – was a key recommendation of the Annan commission.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar does not recognise the Rohingya as an indigenous ethnic group and refers to them as “Bengalis”, a term they reject as it implies they are interlopers from Bangladesh, despite a long history in the country.

The Annan commission was created by Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2016 to find long-term solutions to deep-seated ethnic and religious divisions in Rakhine.

A day after the panel issued its report in August 2017, Rohingya insurgents launched attacks on security forces, provoking a military crackdown the UN has called a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

The admission by Win Myat Aye, who is overseeing plans for reconstruction in violence-ravaged Rakhine state, casts further doubt on plans to repatriate the roughly 700,000 Rohingya currently sheltering in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Many Rohingya refugee leaders say they won’t return without guarantees of citizenship.

However, Myanmar‘s National Security Adviser Thaung Tun, who was also at the meeting in Denmark, told Reuters authorities were implementing the Annan commission’s recommendations “to the fullest extent possible and as expeditiously as we can”.

“Over 80 recommendations have been carried out in less than 10 months,” he said in an email.

Referring to the recommendations that had not been implemented, he said they were “also being looked into”.

Annan’s spokesman referred questions to the Myanmar government.

Refugees have reported killings, burnings, looting and rape by members of the Myanmar security forces and Buddhist vigilantes in Rakhine. Myanmar has rejected accusations of ethnic cleansing, and dismissed most accounts of atrocities.

‘Path to citizenship’

In January, Myanmar and Bangladesh signed a deal to repatriate the refugees within two years, but disagreements have held up the implementation of the plan.

Many Rohingya refugees say they will not return unless the 1982 law is changed.

People who identified themselves as Rohingya were excluded from Myanmar‘s last nationwide census in 2014 and many had their identity documents taken or nullified, blocking them from voting in a landmark 2015 election.

Suu Kyi, who before coming to power said the government should have the “courage” to review the law, is now urging Rohingya to accept the National Verification Card, a residency document that falls short of full citizenship.

However, many Rohingya refuse to accept the document, which they say classifies life-long residents as new immigrants and does not allow them to travel freely.

The military, with whom Suu Kyi shares power, flatly rejects Rohingya calls for citizenship. In a speech in March, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said Rohingya “do not have any characteristics or culture in common with the ethnicities of Myanmar” and that the current conflict had been “fuelled because the Bengalis demanded citizenship“.

Diplomatic difficulties

At the Copenhagen meeting, diplomats were about to break for lunch when Win Myat Aye said Myanmar had begun implementing only 80 of the 88 recommendations made by the commission, due to political and practical differences with the remaining eight, one of those present said.

According to a second person present, Annan responded: “You said you’re having difficulties with eight – which are those? Let’s get back to this after the break.”

Win Myat Aye then listed the recommendations he said Myanmar was struggling to implement. They included commitments to create an independent body to review complaints about citizenship verification, empower community leaders and civil society, and establish a mechanism for feedback on government performance.

“In diplo-speak when you say that something is difficult it tends to be a rejection,” the second source said. “That is how I understood this.”

(Reuters)

Suu Kyi Blames International ‘Hate Narratives’ for Deepening Myanmar Conflict

In Facebook and Twitter posts since August, Suu Kyi’s government has shown support for non-Muslims displaced by the violence and blamed the international community for distributing “fake news” about alleged rights abuses.

Yangon: “Hate narratives” from abroad have driven communities in Myanmar further apart, the Southeast Asian nation’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, said in a social media statement on June 21.

Patience and time are required to restore trust between the communities, Suu Kyi told Christine Schraner Burgener, the United Nations special envoy on Myanmar on June 20, according to the statement on the Nobel Peace laureate’s Facebook page.

Since August, nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims from mainly Buddhist Myanmar‘s northern Rakhine state have fled to Bangladesh following a military response to Rohingya insurgent attacks, the UN and aid agencies have said.

Many reported killings, rape and arson on a large scale.

The UN has called the campaign a textbook example of “ethnic cleansing”, a chargeMyanmar denies.

“The state counsellor also pointed out that the hate narratives from outside the country have driven the two communities further apart,” the Facebook statement paraphrased Suu Kyi as saying, without identifying the communities.

Suu Kyi also stressed the need for a forward-looking approach to resolve the issue, it added.

Zaw Htay, a spokesman for the government, did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests to clarify what narratives Suu Kyi was referring to.

In Facebook and Twitter posts since August, Suu Kyi‘s government has shown support for non-Muslims displaced by the violence and blamed the international community for distributing “fake news” about alleged rights abuses.

Rohingya in Myanmar are denied citizenship, freedom of movement and access to services such as healthcare and education.

This month, Myanmar and UN agencies signed an outline deal on the return of Rohingya refugees, a warming of ties after a low point hit last year when the government suggested some agencies provided food to Rohingya militants.

Bangladeshis Open Their Hearts and Homes to Rohingya Refugees

An estimated 603,000 refugees have arrived in Cox’s Bazar since August 25.

Rohingya refugees have a dinner at a makeshift shelter near Gundum in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, September 3, 2017. Credit: Author provided

Rohingya refugees have a dinner at a makeshift shelter near Gundum in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, September 3, 2017. Credit: Hala Jaber/IPs

Geneva: When primary school headmaster Abdul Jabbar Mahmoud set off from Shamlapur on his motorbike heading to Teknaf town, at the southern tip of Bangladesh for his monthly education department meeting, he had no idea that by the end of the day he would return home with seven extra mouths to feed.

As his moped weaved between the potholes, his thoughts wandered to the day’s meeting between the sub-district’s headmasters and the education officer.

As he sped along, engrossed in his thoughts, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He slowed down and stopped.

“I saw them sitting on the roadside helplessly. Then I noticed the two babies. It touched me emotionally. I could not keep on riding anymore,” he said.

On the side of the road, huddled together, was a family of seven Rohingya refugees who had arrived by boat a few days earlier. They had nowhere to go, and unused to begging, were sitting by the roadside waiting for a miracle.

“They hardly had any clothes. They were barefoot, alone, helpless; they had nothing with them; no pots, no furniture, no bags, anything. All they had were their babies on their lap,” Abdul said, choking with emotion.

“Their babies were crying for water. They didn’t even have water to drink,” he recalled, breaking down in sobs. Abdul reacted with the only way he knew how to – compassionately.

Like many Bangladeshis, the headmaster, who earns a modest 25,000 Takas ($305) a month and has a wife and three children of his own to support, did the one thing he believed to be right.

He adopted the Rohingya family and took them back with him to share his family’s modest house in Shamlapur.

Shamlapur, in Teknaf sub-district, is now a major host community for Rohingya refugees arriving in Cox’s Bazar and is one of 99 similar locations hosting a total of around 103,000 refugees. There are 41 host community sites in Teknaf, 25 in Ukhia, ten in Ramu, and 20 in Cox’s Bazar Sadar – all of them facing mounting hardships and shortages.

The family of seven who came home with Abdul – the parents, three teenage daughters and two small boys – are now living in two rooms in Abdul’s house.

They described how they fled from their village in Myanmar’s North Rakhine State.

The father – Asif – was a relatively well-off landowner and rice farmer with a small business. They owned a two-floor house. Their daughters, aged 15, 16 and 17, dressed well and would soon be thinking of marriage. Mahmoud’s wife had some gold jewellery and all the comforts she needed.

Then the soldiers came on a killing spree. Asif’s 25-year-old son, Mojidollah, was captured and most likely killed. Asif gathered the rest of his family and fled, only to watch his home burn from a distance.

They walked for an entire day until they reached safety in the hills, together with nearly 800 other villagers. They spent two weeks in the jungle surviving on the food that they had managed to bring with them before escaping the village. When the food ran out and they knew it was no longer safe to stay, they made their way to the nearest beach to find a boat.

Asif found a Bangladeshi fishing boat and struck a deal for 15,000 Takas to take his family across the border to Bangladesh. He paid using his wife’s gold earrings, putting his family’s safety and wellbeing above any other concerns.

The fishing boat brought them to safety, and but the family found themselves homeless with nowhere to go.

Unused to begging or taking charity, they sat by the roadside hoping to be rescued by one of the humanitarian agencies and taken to a camp or shelter.

Rohinya refugees. Credit: Author provided

Rohinya refugees. Credit: Hala Jaber/IPs

When Abdul found them first, they had slept in the open for two days and the children were tired, hungry and thirsty.

It did not take long for the headmaster to decide on what to do; he made up his mind there and then to take them home and offer them shelter.

“I could not just leave them on their own and move on. I took them in. I brought them home and arranged showers for them. After they had washed, I provided them with food and a place to sleep,” he said.

“They slept for a day and night. They needed a lot of treatment. They were dehydrated, so I gave them salines. They were very sick and exhausted. When they woke up, they spoke only a few words. They could not eat our food, because they have different food habits. So I took them to the market to buy what they needed,” he explained.

“The girls also had some emergency requirements for their menstruation periods. I bought them those things from the market. I did all these things for free. I didn’t take any money,” he said.

Although grateful to Abdul’s generosity, Asif and his family are still struggling to come to terms with their loss and current situation. His wife, Mariam, cried when asked about how she was coping, recalling how she had to sell her gold earrings so the family could cross the border.

Assif and Mariam, now worry about the future of the girls and how they will be able to marry in Bangladesh – a significant cultural concerns in Rohingya communities, where girls marry at a young age. “How can I provide a dowry here?” he asked. He admitted that when the children are asleep, he and his wife stay up talking about their myriad of problems.

But mostly they talk about their eldest son, Mojidollah. They are slowly coming to terms with the fact that he has probably been killed and they are unlikely to ever see him again.

An estimated 603,000 refugees have arrived in Cox’s Bazar since August 25, joining some 200,000 others already sheltering in the settlements. Most of the new arrivals come with nothing but the clothes on their back, often having walked for days without food or water. Many have experienced devastating physical and emotional trauma.

(IPS)

Myanmar Gives Green Light to Resume Food Aid to Rakhine

UN humanitarian agencies have not been able to access northern Rakhine to deliver aid since the attacks on police stations in August triggered an army crackdown.

Aerial view of a burned Rohingya village near Maungdaw, north of Rakhine state, Myanmar, September 27, 2017. Credit: Reuters

Geneva: Myanmar authorities have agreed to allow the UN to resume distribution of food in northern Rakhine state which was suspended for two months, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.

The WFP was previously distributing food rations to 110,000 people in northern Rakhine state – to both Buddhist and Rohingya communities.

Rohingya insurgent attacks on police stations triggered an army crackdown, that the UN has called “ethnic cleansing”, and UN humanitarian agencies have not been able to access northern Rakhine to deliver aid since then.

“WFP has been given the green light to resume food assistance operations in northern part of Rakhine. We are working with the government to coordinate the details,” WFP spokeswoman Bettina Luescher told journalists in Geneva.

She had no timeline or details on the proposed distribution of rations to members of the Muslim Rohingya minority still living in northern Rakhine, and said it was still being discussed with the authorities in Myanmar.

“We just have to see what the situation on the ground is. It’s very hard to say these things if you can’t get in,” Luescher said.

(Reuters)

‘Consistent’ Pattern of Crimes Against Myanmar’s Rohingya, Say UN Experts

Rohingya refugees have testified about a “consistent, methodical pattern” of killings, torture, rape and arson, UN human rights investigators said.

Rohingya refugees who crossed the border from Myanmar this week cry as they take shelter at the Seagull Primary School in Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, October 27, 2017. Credit: Reuters

Geneva: Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar have testified about a “consistent, methodical pattern” of killings, torture, rape and arson, UN human rights investigators said on Friday after a first mission to Bangladesh.

The team, led by former Indonesian attorney-general Marzuki Darusman, said that the death toll from the Myanmar army’s crackdown following Rohingya insurgent attacks on August 25 was unknown, but “may turn out to be extremely high”.

“We have heard many accounts from people from many different villages across northern Rakhine state. They point to a consistent, methodical pattern of actions resulting in gross human rights violations affecting hundreds of thousands of people,” Darusman said in a statement.

(Reuters)

Myanmar, Bangladesh Agree to Cooperate on Rohingya Refugee Repatriation

Officials did not elaborate on the specific steps the authorities would take for the repatriation, adding that the bulk of discussions was dedicated to border and security cooperation agreements.

A Rohingya refugee family sits in a queue as they wait to receive humanitarian aid at Kutupalong refugee camp near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh October 24, 2017. Credit: Reuters

Naypyitaw: Myanmar and Bangladesh on Tuesday agreed to cooperate on the repatriation of Rohingya refugees and took steps to boost border security as relations between the neighbours have been strained by the continuing flow of refugees into Bangladesh.

Over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar since August 25, when Rohingya insurgent attacks sparked a ferocious military response by the Myanmar army that the UN has called ethnic cleansing.

At a meeting in Myanmar‘s capital Naypyitaw, attended by Myanmar‘s home affairs minister lieutenant general Kyaw Swe and his Bangladeshi counterpart Asaduzzaman Khan, the countries signed two agreements covering security and border cooperation.

The two sides have also agreed to “to halt the outflow of Myanmar residents to Bangladesh,” and “to form a joint working group,” Tin Myint, permanent secretary from Myanmar‘s home affairs ministry told reporters after the meetings.

“After joint working group, the verification, (the) two countries have agreed to arrange different steps so that these people can return to their homeland safely and honourably and in secure conditions,” said Mostafa Kamal Uddin, secretary from Bangladeshi home affairs ministry.

The officials did not elaborate on the specific steps the authorities would take for the repatriation, adding that the bulk of discussions was dedicated to border and security cooperation agreements which have been long in the making.

Tin Myint said the two countries agreed “to restore normalcy in Rakhine to enable displaced Myanmar residents to return from Bangladesh at the earliest opportunity.”

He also said Myanmar had sent a list of suspects who had fled to Bangladesh and requested the authorities there to investigate and return them to Myanmar.

Thousands of refugees have continued to arrived cross the Naf river separating Myanmar‘s western Rakhine state and Bangladesh in recent days, even though Myanmar says military operations ceased on September 5.

The US said on Monday it was considering a range of further actions over Myanmar‘s treatment of the Rohingya Muslim minority.

While on Tuesday the officials said the talks were friendly, tensions are still high between the two countries. Bangladesh last month accused Myanmar of repeatedly violating its air space and warned that any more “provocative acts” could have “unwarranted consequences”.

On border and security, the two sides decided to establish border liaison offices, carry out regular meetings between two security forces, jointly combat drug trafficking across the border and set up a mechanism to communicate directly.

Bangladesh has for decades faced influxes of Rohingya fleeing persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where the Rohingya are seen as illegal migrants. It was already home to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya before the latest crisis.

Though Rohingya families have lived in Myanmar for generations, they are denied citizenship and access to basic civil rights such as freedom of movement, decent education and healthcare.

Hundreds in Rakhine on Sunday protested to urge Myanmar‘s government not to repatriate the Rohingya.

(Reuters)

Bangladesh Urged by UN to Move Rohingya Refugees Stranded at Border

UN aid agencies have not had access to the shrinking Rohingya population in northern Rakhine state since the August 25 coordinated insurgent attacks on police posts and army campaign.

Rohingya refugees who crossed the border from Myanmar a day before, wait to receive permission from the Bangladeshi army to continue their way to the refugee camps, in Palang Khali, Bangladesh October 17, 2017. Credit: Reuters

Geneva: The UN refugee agency urged Bangladesh on Tuesday to speed up vetting of up to 15,000 Rohingya refugees “stranded” near the border after crossing into the country from Myanmar and move them further inland to safer and better conditions.

Some 582,000 Rohingya are now known to have fled since violence erupted on August 25 in northern Rakhine state, where they lack access to food and healthcare, UN officials said.

“We are gravely concerned about humanitarian conditions in Bangladesh, where thousands of new arrivals are stranded near the border,” UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic told a Geneva news briefing.

An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 have entered Bangladesh through the Anjuman Para border crossing point since Sunday night, many of whom described walking for about a week to reach the border, he said.

“We are advocating with the Bangladesh authorities to urgently admit these refugees fleeing violence and increasingly difficult conditions back home. Every minute counts given the fragile condition they are arriving in,” Mahecic said.

The delay was due to screening by Bangladesh border guards, he said, emphasising this was the right of any government.

UN aid agencies have not had access to the shrinking Rohingya population in northern Rakhine state since the August 25 coordinated insurgent attacks on police posts and army campaign which the UN rights office has likened to “ethnic cleansing”.

UN political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman wrapped up a five-day visit to Myanmar on Tuesday. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Feltman saw dozens of burned and destroyed villages in northern Rakhine.

Dujarric said that in Feltman’s discussions with the Myanmar military he “noted that, in the UN’s experience, successful counter-terrorism efforts do not rely exclusively on security measures” and urged them to support “credible investigations into allegations of human rights abuses by security officials.”

Jens Laerke, spokesman of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that Rohingya in Rakhine now faced a “desperate choice whether to stay or go”, not only due to the violence but also humanitarian needs.

Nearly 60% of the 582,000 refugees who have fled Myanmar since August 25 are children – and thousands more are crossing each week, UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado said.

UNICEF, which is providing clean water every day to 40,000 people in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, and has installed thousands of toilets, may have to stop operations by the end of November unless further funds are received, she said.

A UN interagency appeal of $434 million for Rohingya in Bangladesh and host communities is only 24% funded, OCHA’s Laerke said.

(Reuters)

Thousands of New Rohingya Refugees Flee to Bangladesh From Myanmar to Escape Violence

The refugees who arrived in Bangladesh on Monday said they were driven out by hunger because food markets in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state have been shut down and aid deliveries restricted.

Rohingya refugees arrive at a beach after crossing from Myanmar, in Teknaf, Bangladesh, October 15, 2017. Credit: Reuters

Cox’s Bazar: Hungry, destitute and scared, thousands of new Rohingya refugees crossed the border into Bangladesh from Myanmar early on Monday, Reuters witnesses said, fleeing attacks by Buddhist mobs and hunger that the UN has called ethnic cleansing.

Wading through waste-deep water with children strapped to their sides, the Rohingya told Reuters how they had walked through bushes and forded monsoon-swollen streams for days from Myanmar’s Buthidaung region before reaching the border.

A seemingly never-ending line entered Bangladesh near the village of Palongkhali. Many were injured, with the elderly on makeshift stretchers, and women balanced family belongings – pots, rice sacks, clothing – on their heads.

“We couldn’t step out of the house for the last month because the military were looting people. They started firing on the village. So we escaped into another village,” said Mohammad Shoaib, 29.

He wore a yellow vest and was balancing his jute bags, carrying some food and aluminium pots, on a bamboo pole.

“Day by day things kept getting worse, so we started moving towards Bangladesh. Before we left, I went back near my village to see my house, and the entire village was burnt down,” Shoaib said.

They walked to join some 536,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled Myanmar since August 25, when coordinated Rohingya insurgent attacks sparked a ferocious military response, with the fleeing people accusing security forces of arson, killings and rape.

Myanmar rejects accusations of ethnic cleansing and has labelled the militants from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army who launched the initial attacks as terrorists who have killed civilians and burnt villages.

Food, aid restricted

The refugees who arrived in Bangladesh on Monday said they were driven out by hunger because food markets in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state have been shut down and aid deliveries restricted. They also reported attacks by the military and Rakhine Buddhist mobs.

A foot of the new born Rohingya baby is pictured at a medical center in Kutupalong refugees camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, October 15, 2017. Credit: Reuters

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya had already been in Bangladesh after fleeing previous spasms of violence in Myanmar, where they have long been denied citizenship and faced restrictions on their movements and access to basic services.

Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has pledged accountability for human rights abuses and says the country will accept back refugees who can prove they were residents of Myanmar.

The US and the EU have been considering targeted sanctions against Myanmar’s military leaders, diplomats and officials have told Reuters, although they are wary of action that could destabilize the country’s transition to democracy.

EU foreign ministers will discuss Myanmar on Monday, and their draft joint statement said the bloc “will suspend invitations to the commander-in-chief of the Myanmar/Burma armed forces and other senior military officers”.

The powerful army chief, Min Aung Hlaing, told the US ambassador in Myanmar last week that the exodus of Rohingya, who he said were non-native “Bengalis”, was exaggerated.

(Reuters)

Amid Reports of Killings and Abuse of Rohingya Muslims, Myanmar Army Opens Probe

Domestic investigations, including a previous internal military probe, have largely dismissed refugees’ claims of abuses committed during security forces’ “clearance operations”.

Yasmin, a 10-year-old Rohingya refugee girl, poses while carrying firewood at Kutupalong refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh October 13, 2017. Credit: Reuters

Yasmin, a ten-year-old Rohingya refugee girl, poses while carrying firewood at Kutupalong refugee camp near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh October 13, 2017. Credit: Reuters

Yangon: Myanmar’s military has launched an internal probe into the conduct of soldiers during a counteroffensive that has sent more than half a million Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh, many saying they witnessed killings, rape and arson by troops.

Coordinated Rohingya insurgent attacks on 30 security posts on August 25 sparked a ferocious military response in the Muslim-majority northern part of Rakhine state that the UN has said was ethnic cleansing.

A committee led by military Lieutenant-General Aye Win has begun an investigation into the behaviour of military personnel, the office of the commander in chief said on Friday, insisting the operation was justified under Buddhist-majority Myanmar‘s constitution.

According to a statement posted on Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s Facebook page, the panel will ask, “Did they follow the military code of conduct? Did they exactly follow the command during the operation? After that (the committee) will release full information.”

Myanmar is refusing entry to a UN panel that was tasked with investigating allegations of abuses after a smaller military counteroffensive launched in October 2016.

But domestic investigations, including a previous internal military probe, have largely dismissed refugees’ claims of abuses committed during security forces’ “clearance operations”.

Thousands of refugees have continued to arrived cross the Naf river separating Myanmar‘s Rakhine state and Bangladesh in recent days, even though Myanmar insists military operations ceased on September 5.

Aid agencies estimate that 536,000 people have arrived in the Cox’s Bazar district, straining scarce resources of aid groups and local communities.

A store light with a candle is seen at Kutupalong refugee camp near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh October 13, 2017. Credit: Reuters

About 200,000 Rohingya were already in Bangladesh after fleeing persecution in Myanmar, where they have long been denied citizenship and faced restrictions on their movements and access to basic services.

Myanmar‘s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has pledged accountability for human rights abuses and says Myanmar will accept back refugees who can prove they were residents of Myanmar.

The powerful army chief has taken a harder stance, however, telling the US ambassador in Myanmar this week that the exodus of Rohingya, who he said were non-native “Bengalis,” was exaggerated.

In comments to Japan’s ambassador carried in state media on Friday, Min Aung Hlaing denied ethnic cleansing was taking place on the grounds that photos showed Muslims “departing calmly rather than fleeing in terror”.

Former UN chief Kofi Annan, who led a commission set up by Suu Kyi to find solutions for the ethnically and religiously divided Rakhine, briefed the UN Security Council and other key states in an informal closed-door meeting on Friday.

Some council members are exploring if the 15-member body could agree a formal statement or even a resolution to call for an end to the violence, for full aid access, the safe return of refugees, access for a UN fact-finding mission to ensure accountability and implementation of Annan’s recommendations.

Annan said he hoped any possible Security Council resolution “urges the government to really press ahead and create conditions that will allow the refugees to return in dignity and with a sense of security, they should not be returned to camps.”

(Reuters)

Brutal Myanmar Army Operation Aimed at Preventing Rohingya Return, Says UN

Credible information indicates that the Myanmar security forces purposely destroyed the property of the Rohingyas and entire villages in northern Rakhine State.

Rohingya refugees walk on the muddy path after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Teknaf, Bangladesh, September 3, 2017. Credit: Reuters

Geneva: Myanmar security forces have brutally driven out half a million Muslim Rohingya from northern Rakhine state, torching their homes, crops and villages to prevent them from returning, the UN human rights office said on Wednesday.

Jyoti Sanghera, head of the Asia and Pacific region of the UN human rights office, called on Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi to “stop the violence” and voiced fear that if the stateless Rohingya refugees return from Bangladesh they may be interned.

“If villages have been completely destroyed and livelihood possibilities have been destroyed, what we fear is that they may be incarcerated or detained in camps,” she told a news briefing.

UN political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman is due to visit Myanmar on Friday, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

In a report based on 65 interviews with Rohingya who have arrived in Bangladesh in the past month, the UN human rights office said that “clearance operations” had begun before insurgent attacks on police posts on August 25 and included killings, torture and rape of children.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein – who has described the government operations as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing” – said in a statement that the actions appeared to be “a cynical ploy to forcibly transfer large numbers of people without possibility of return”.

“Credible information indicates that the Myanmar security forces purposely destroyed the property of the Rohingyas, scorched their dwellings and entire villages in northern Rakhine State, not only to drive the population out in droves but also to prevent the fleeing Rohingya victims from returning to their homes,” the report said.

It said the destruction by security forces, often joined by mobs of armed Rakhine Buddhists, of houses, fields, food stocks, crops, and livestock made the possibility of Rohingya returning to normal lives in northern Rakhine “almost impossible”.

Rohingya refugees have a dinner at a makeshift shelter near Gundum in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, September 3, 2017. Credit: Reuters

The campaign was “well-organised, coordinated and systematic” and began with Rohingya men under 40 being arrested a month earlier, creating a “climate of fear and intimidation”.

“We are not in a position to make a finding of genocide or not, but this should in no way detract from the seriousness of the situation which the Rohingya population is currently facing,” said Thomas Hunecke, who led the team that went to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, from September 14-24.

It was “highly likely” that Myanmar security forces planted landmines along the border in recent weeks to prevent Rohingya from returning, he said, citing doctors treating injuries.

Violence continues

Despite growing international condemnation of the crisis, the military campaign is popular in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where there is little sympathy for the Rohingya, and for Muslims in general, and where Buddhist nationalism has surged.

Myanmar on Tuesday launched its first bid to improve relations between Buddhists and Muslims since the eruption of deadly violence inflamed the communal tension and triggered an exodus of some 520,000 Muslims to Bangladesh.

But the UN’s Sanghera, noting that 11,000 Rohingya crossed into Bangladesh on Monday alone, said: “Clearly it seems that some level of eviction, displacement, forced movement and violence may be continuing.”

The UN experts documented Myanmar security forces “firing indiscriminately at Rohingya villagers, injuring and killing other innocent victims, setting houses on fire”.

“Almost all testimonies indicated that people were shot at close range and in the back while they tried to flee in panic,” the report said.

The UN report quoted a 12-year-old girl from Rathedaung township as saying the security forces had surrounded her house and started shooting.

“It was a situation of panic – they shot my sister in front of me. She was only seven years old. She cried and told me to run. I tried to protect her and care for her, but we had no medical assistance on the hillside and she was bleeding so much that after one day she died. I buried her myself.”

The girl did not know what happened to her mother and four brothers, nor her father jailed a month earlier.

The UN said on Wednesday that its current top official in Myanmar, Renata Lok-Dessallien, would finish her nearly four-year assignment at the end of October.

Myanmar is stalling on accepting a plan by the UN to upgrade the UN country head to the more powerful rank of assistant secretary-general (ASG) when Lok-Dessallien leaves.

Thaung Tun, Suu Kyi’s national security adviser, told Reuters earlier this month that the UN “must treat us equally,” adding that: “We’ll be fine with anybody if all member states have an ASG assigned. Not just us.”

(Reuters)