Rohingya ‘can’t be sent back to face rape, murder and torture’

The senior UN official for human rights said yesterday that it is “impossible” to send Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh safely back to Myanmar because it appears that widespread and systematic violence against them inside Myanmar, amounting to ethnic cleaning, is continuing.

UN Assistant Secretarygeneral for Human Rights Andrew Gilmour said in a statement that during a four-day visit to Bangladesh, refugees told him “credible accounts of continued killings, rape, torture and abductions, as well as forced starvation” in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine.

Myanmar’s government denies such abuses and announced in January it was ready to accept the refugees back.

“Safe, dignified and sustainable returns are of course impossible under current conditions,” he said. Some 700,000 Muslim Rohingya have fled Buddhistmajority Myanmar to Bangladesh since late August, when Myanmar security forces began sweeps through Rakhine after Rohingya insurgent attacks.

There are credible accounts of widespread human rights abuses, including rape, the torching of homes and killings, carried out against the Rohingya, leading to accusations that Myanmar is guilty of ethnic cleansing, or even genocide.

Mr Gilmour’s statement said the rate of killings and sexual violence in Rakhine had subsided since August and September last year, but that “It appears that widespread and systematic violence against the Rohingya persists.

“The nature of the violence has changed from the frenzied blood-letting and mass rape of last year to a lower intensity campaign of terror and forced starvation that seems to be designed to drive the remaining Rohingya from their homes and into Bangladesh,” he said.

Myanmar’s government has built two reception camps and a transition camp for Rohingya refugees in Rakhine, but Mr Gilmour, like most human rights advocates, says it is unsafe to repatriate the Rohingya.

“The conversation now must focus on stopping the violence in Rakhine State, ensuring accountability for the perpetrators, and the need for Myanmar to create conditions for return,” said Mr Gilmour.

Myanmar’s government spokesman did not answer repeated calls for comment on Mr Gilmour’s statement.

Last week, Myanmar’s army deployed additional security forces to the border with Bangladesh, with the apparent aim of driving about 6,000 Rohingya refugees staying in a no man’s land into Bangladeshi territory.