Fresh drive against Rohingyas
Refugees allege Myanmar Army has intensified campaign against minority
Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh, Oct. 4: Rohingya refugees arriving in Bangladesh amid a fresh exodus from strifetorn Myanmar have described whole villages being emptied and thousands marching to the border as security forces redouble efforts to drive remaining Muslims from their homes.
More than 500,000 Muslim Rohingya have fled ethnic bloodshed in Myanmar in the past month and numbers are again swelling, with Bangladesh reporting 45,000 civilians now crossing the border each day after a brief lull in arrivals.
The spike in new arrivals — prompted by what Rohingya say is a fresh drive to purge Muslims still in westernmost Rakhine state -- casts doubt on a Myanmar proposal aired this week to start repatriating the persecuted minority.
Rakhine has been emptied of half of its Rohingya population.
Rashida Begum, who arrived in Bangladesh late on Monday, said local officials assured the Rohingya community for weeks they would be safe if they remained in their village.
“(But then) the Army came and went door to door, ordering us to leave,” she told AFP of the military sweep in Maungdaw on Friday.
“They said they wouldn’t harm us, but eventually they drove us out and burned our houses.”
Begum, 30, fled with her daughter to the coast, where hundreds of Rohingya waited to cross the Naf River dividing Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Myanmar state media said the fleeing Rohingya had left “of their own accord” despite assurances they would be safe.
“I wanted to stay in my village,” Hasina Khatun, 25, told AFP in the coastal border town of Shah Porir Dwip.