Myanmar forces ‘targeting’ Rohingya kids
"When I got closer I saw at least 50 dead bodies floating in it,. I can’t forget the smell of the burning houses, or the sight of the bloated bodies … these are horrors I will never forget." Rohingya refugee aged 12
MYANMAR: A soldier poured gasoline over a heavily pregnant woman and set her alight.
Another ripped a baby from his mother’s arms and threw him into the fire.
‘‘He was not even one year old… I will never forget their screams,’’ a 24 year-old woman told investigators from Save the Children, which has just released a report revealing shocking atrocities against Rohingya Muslim children in Myanmar.
A 12 year-old boy fled his village for Bangladesh after the military started hacking people with machetes before entering an abandoned village, hoping to find some food or water, and eventually came across a reservoir, the report said.
‘‘When I got closer I saw at least 50 dead bodies floating in it,’’ the boy told investigators.
‘‘I can’t forget the smell of the burning houses, or the sight of the bloated bodies…these are horrors I will never forget,’’ he said.
Save the Children Australia director of policy and international programs Matt Tinkler, who has returned from visiting Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, said ‘‘almost every child we’ve spoken to has seen and experienced things that no child ever should.’’
‘‘They have told us of massacres, multiple rapes and seeing family members burnt alive,’’ Mr Tinkler said.
‘‘With more than half of all refugees under the age of 18, this is a children’s emergency,’’ he said.
‘‘Many of these children are deeply traumatised by what they have been through, and are now living somewhere that is no place for a child.’’
The release of the report comes ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers from Australia, Europe, Asia and New Zealand in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw on Monday and Tuesday to discuss to discuss Asia’s worst humanitarian crisis in decades.
‘‘Nothing should be off the table; they must use all financial and diplomatic avenues available to end the crisis and protect children,’’ Tinkler said, adding that international relief agencies should also be granted immediate access to Rakhine State, where the atrocities have taken place.
Multiple reports by United Nations’ agencies and human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have revealed Myanmar security forces are using widespread and systematic violence to drive 1.1 million Rohingya from Rakhine, where they have lived for generations.
More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since August.
Now the Save the Children report reveals the deliberate targeting of children.
A 14 year-old girl was gang raped by soldiers in front of a whole village, the report said.
Her parents were killed trying to help her.
The girl died four days later. A 16 year-old girl told Save the Children she was raped by three soldiers for about two hours, before she fainted, the report said.
‘‘They broke one of my ribs when they kicked me in the chest,’’ she said.
‘‘It was very painful and I could hardly breath…I still have difficulty breathing, but I haven’t been to a doctor, as I feel too ashamed.’’
A pregnant 35 year-old mother said her 17 year-old son was shot dead when he tried to stop six soldiers raping her.
‘‘I have lost everything: my son, unborn baby and my dignity,’’ she told investigators.
In another new report the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Fortify Rights said there is ‘‘mounting evidence’’ of genocide in Myanmar.
The report said Myanmar soldiers and civilian perpetrators have slit throats, burned victims alive, including infants and chil- dren, beat civilians to death, raped and gang raped women and children.
‘‘State security forces have opened fire on men, women, and children at close range and at a distance and from land and helicopters, killing untold numbers,’’ it said.
‘‘Survivors from some villages described how perpetrators slashed women’s breasts, hacked bodies to pieces, and beheaded victims, including children.’’ Matthew Smith, chief executive officer of Fortify Rights, said ‘‘these crimes thrive on impunity and inaction.’’
‘‘Condemnations aren’t enough. Without urgent international action towards accountability, more mass killings are likely,’’ he said.
Foreign minister Julie Bishop has expressed Australia’s ‘‘deep concern’’ about the violence but has avoided directly condemning Myanmar’s government, led by the Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, or the country’s military chiefs.