Violence engulfs Burma’s minority Muslims
Government has kept tight rein on Rohingya as thousands try to flee
BEIJING— A crisis is unfolding in western Burma.
Since last Friday, at least 18,500 Rohingya, a Muslim minority in the country’s conflict-ridden Rakhine state, have fled a surge of violence by crossing into Bangladesh, according to the International Organization for Migration.
“There are probably thousands” more stuck in a no man’s land at the Bangladeshi border, said Chris Lom, the organization’s Asia-Pacific spokesperson. Ahead, border guards block their escape from the state. Behind, their hometowns are engulfed in flames, reportedly burned by Burmese government forces.
Officials said Thursday that three boats carrying Rohingya had capsized in Bangladesh and 26 bodies of women and children had been recovered.
Bangladesh border guard commander Lt. Col. S.M. Ariful Islam said at least three boats carrying an unknown number of Rohingya Muslims sank in the Naf River at Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar on Wednesday. He said the bodies of 15 children and 11 women were recovered, and it was unclear whether anyone was still missing.
Those Rohingya who have escaped say that government forces set fire to their villages. Satellite data corroborates their testimony, showing “widespread fires” in Rohingya areas, Human Rights Watch said in a statement. Videos online show the refugees sobbing as gunfire crackles in the distance.
“The situation is very terrifying, houses are burning, all the people ran away from their homes, parents and children were divided, some were lost, some are dead,” Abdullah, 25, a Rohingya from Rakhine’s Buthidaung region who gave only one name, told Reuters.
What’s happening and how did the situation get so bad? Here’s what you need to know: How did this happen? It began in northern Rakhine state on Aug. 25, when a group of Rohingya insurgents calling themselves the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army — many wielding machetes, swords and knives — staged a coordinated pre-dawn raid on 30 police posts and an army base. They killed 12 security officers, and in the ensuing conflict, security forces killed 77 of them, according to the Burmese government. Government forces, analysts suspect, responded with a scorched-earth campaign, torching homes and shooting civilians. Thousands of Rohingya quickly fled to the border. On Wednesday, Bangladesh further tightened border controls, to keep more Rohingya from getting through. Who are the Rohingya? The Rohingya are often called the world’s largest stateless minority. About 1.1 million of them live in Burma, most of them in Rakhine state. The Burmese government denies the Rohingya citizenship and voting rights, claiming they’re illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Bangladeshi authorities say they’re Burmese. Since a wave of BuddhistMuslim violence in 2012, the Burmese government has virtually held them prisoner in their own country, confined to squalid ghettos and watched over by armed guards. What is the Burmese government doing about it? Burmese officials have presented the violence in Burma as an attack by “extremist terrorists” influenced by foreign forces, and have defended the military’s behaviour.
The country’s elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, called last week’s raids “a calculated attempt to undermine the efforts of those seeking to build peace and harmony in Rakhine state.” She did not address allegations of military misconduct.
Rights groups have condemned the response. Many once considered Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, an icon of democracy. The country’s brutal military junta had confined her to house arrest for 15 years before watershed elections in 2015 ushered her into power.
In a Facebook post Sunday, her office suggested that international aid workers had been abetting the insurgents. It posted pictures of World Food Program biscuits that it said were found “at the camp where terrorists sheltered.” On Tuesday, the United Nations said it had suspended aid operations in the town of Maungdaw in northern Rakhine state, citing safety concerns. What’s next? Last Friday, hours before the violence broke out, the official Advisory Commission on Rakhine State — led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan — released a report warning that the violence in Rakhine could spiral out of control. It proposed giving the Rohingya improved rights, including freedom of movement and political participation.
Robertson of Human Rights Watch said that many of the refugees will likely settle in unofficial camps in Bangladesh.
“These people have no status — they’ll get some support from the UN and other NGOs, but very limited amounts,” he said. “And once the winds and waves slow down in the Andaman Sea, which we’ll see in October, we’re gonna see another boat people crisis.”