We don’t negotiate with terrorists, says Myanmar
YANGON/SHAH PORIR DWIP ISLAND, Bangladesh: Myanmar yesterday rebuffed a ceasefire declared by Muslim Rohingya insurgents to enable the delivery of aid to thousands of displaced people in the violence-racked state of Rakhine, declaring simply that it did not negotiate with terrorists.
Attacks by militants on police posts and an army base on Aug 25 prompted a military counteroffensive that triggered an exodus of Rohingya to Bangladesh, adding to the hundreds of thousands already there from previous spasms of conflict.
According to the latest estimate by UN workers in the Cox’s Bazar region of southern Bangladesh, about 294,000 – many of them sick or wounded – have arrived in just 15 days, putting huge strain on humanitarian agencies’ operations.
Thousands of Rohingya remaining in the north-western state of Rakhine have been left without shelter or food, and many are still trying to cross mountains, dense bush and rice fields to reach Bangladesh.
The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) insurgent group declared a month-long unilateral ceasefire, starting yesterday, so that aid could reach these people.
The impact of ARSA’s move is unclear, but it does not appear to have been able to put up significant resistance against the military force unleashed in Rakhine state.
ARSA’s declaration drew no formal response from the military or the government of Buddhistmajority Myanmar.
However, the spokesman for Myanmar’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, said on Twitter: “We have no policy to negotiate with terrorists.”
Myanmar says its security forces are carrying out clearance operations to defend against ARSA, which the government has declared a terrorist organisation.
Human rights monitors and fleeing Rohingya say the army and Rakhine Buddhist vigilantes have mounted a campaign of arson aimed at driving out the Rohingya, whose population is estimated at around 1.1 million. — Reuters
NEW DELHI: India has called for an immediate end to violence in Myanmar’s western state of Myanmar, urging its ally to act with restraint as hordes of Rohingya flee to neighbouring Bangladesh.
“We would urge that the situation in Rakhine State be handled with restraint and maturity, focusing on the welfare of the civilian population alongside those of the security forces,” the foreign ministry said in a statement late Saturday.
“It is imperative that violence is ended and normalcy in the State restored expeditiously,” it said, adding it was concerned about the outflow of refugees.
The call came days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a state visit to the Buddhistmajority country amid spiralling violence in Rakhine that has forced nearly 300,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee. Modi condemned a series of coordinated attacks by Rohingya militants on Myanmar troops and police on Aug 25, but did not comment on the subsequent violence against the Rohingya and their mass exodus.
Fleeing Rohingya accuse the security forces of mass killings and rapes and the burning of hundreds of villages. Myanmar does not want its 1.1 million Rohingya, who are seen as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and are refused citizenship.
Successive regimes have historically discriminated against them even though many have lived for generations in Rakhine state. — AFP