Rohingya rebels call truce as desperation hits camps
COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh — Rohingya insurgents, whose attack on Myanmar security forces last month triggered savage military reprisals, declared a monthlong truce Sunday as refugees continued to flood across the border into Bangladesh only to face scant basic resources, hunger and illness.
The Muslim insurgents of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army issued the truce statement on its Twitter account and urged Myanmar’s government to reciprocate in order to assist all victims regardless of their background.
The government did not comment immediately.
The rebels, who say they’re fighting to protect their minority members against government-sponsored persecution, launched their first known attacks in October and again on Aug. 25. According to Rohingya refugees, the military responded with indiscriminate killings, burning entire villages and forcing tens of thousands to flee. The government said most of the 400 dead were “terrorists.”
The U.N. said Saturday that an estimated 290,000 Rohingya Muslims have arrived in the border district of Cox’s Bazar in just the last two weeks, joining at least 100,000 who were already there after fleeing earlier riots or persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. The number was expected to swell further, with thousands crossing the border each day.
Fights were erupting over food and water. Women and children were tapping on car windows or tugging at the clothes of passing reporters while rubbing their bellies and begging for food.
Health experts warned of the potential for outbreaks of disease.
“More and more people are coming,” said UNHCR spokeswoman Vivian Tan. With camps already “more than full,” the new arrivals were setting up spontaneous settlements along roadsides or on any available patches of land.
Within the camps “we are trying our best, but it is very difficult because every day we are seeing new arrivals” with nowhere to go, Tan said.
Many of the newly arrived were initially stunned and traumatized after fleeing the violence. They are now growing desperate in searching for food distribution points that appeared only in recent days, passing out packets of biscuits and 55-pound bags of rice.
One aid worker who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media said “stocks are running out” with the refugees’ needs far greater than anticipated. “It is impossible to keep up,” she said.
There was an urgent need for more temporary shelters, Tan said.
The U.N. has asked Bangladesh authorities to make more land available so they can build new relief camps.
The U.S. State Department said in a statement Saturday that it was “very concerned” about the situation and praised Bangladesh for its “generosity in responding to this humanitarian crisis.”