Rohingya minority ‘beheaded’ and ‘burned alive’ by Burma army
FEARS of atrocities against Rohingya civilians in Burma grew last night after accounts emerged of children being beheaded and people burned alive.
The witness reports followed a week of violence and “inflammatory” government statements that led the UK’S ambassador to the UN to urge Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto government head, to “set the right tone”.
The Nobel peace laureate has faced international condemnation for failing to address ongoing rights abuses of the Muslim minority and for online statements by her “information committee” that have been accused of inflaming public sentiment against the wider Rohingya population and aid workers.
The government of Burma, also known as Myanmar, has condemned the international community and foreign media for focusing on the plight of the Rohingya while ignoring the impact of the violence on ethnic-rakhine Buddhists and other non-muslims.
Northern Rakhine state erupted into fresh violence eight days ago when the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army – since declared a terrorist organisation by the government – attacked 30 security posts, killing at least 12 people. That came just hours after a commission appointed by Ms Suu Kyi and led by Kofi Annan delivered its recommendations on how to end long-running ethno-religious tensions in Rakhine.
Yesterday, Fortify Rights, a Bangkokbased watchdog, published harrowing witness accounts from Rohingya who escaped the village of Chut Pyin in Rathedaung township.
They claimed around 200 Rohingya men, women and children had been killed by Burmese security forces and local ethnic-rakhine villagers.
Soldiers reportedly arrested a large group of Rohingya men, marched them into a nearby bamboo hut and set it on fire, burning them to death.
“My brother was killed – [soldiers] burned him with the group,” Fortify Rights quoted Abdul Rahman, 41, of Chut Pyin, as saying.
“We found [my other family members] in the fields. They had marks on their bodies from bullets. My two nephews, their heads were off.”
Yesterday, the Burmese military reported that some 400 people – around 370 Rohingya insurgents, 13 security forces, two government officials and 14 civilians – had died in the violence since Aug 25. On Wednesday, prompted by a request from Matthew Rycroft, the British ambassador, the 15-member UN security council met and called on all parties, including Ms Suu Kyi, to deescalate the situation.
Mr Rycroft said: “We look to her to set the right tone and to find the compromises and the de-escalation necessary in order to resolve the conflict.”
The International Organisation for Migration said 18,500 Rohingya Muslims had fled the violence and crossed into Bangladesh in a week, joining the nearly 400,000 Rohingya already housed in squalid camps.