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Deen
Mohammad (L) and his wife Roshida (R),
whose two elder sons were taken by the
Burmese military,
in a refugee camp in Teknaf in southern Cox's Bazar district
UZ ZAMAN/AFP/Getty Images
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By Will
Worley
The
Independent
November 26,
2016
'They took
women in rooms and then locked them from inside. Up to 50 women and girls of
our village were tortured and raped'
Rohingya
Muslims in Burma are being ethnically cleansed, according to a UN official, and
government soldiers have allegedly killed children and raped women in the
northern Rakhine state.
Burmese
troops have been conducting counter insurgency operations in the region against
Rohingya militants, but the fallout is said to have been bloody, with numerous
reports of atrocities emerging from Rohingya refugees.
But despite
nature of the allegations, there has been relatively little media coverage of
the violence.
Some
Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh because of the fighting – but the
authorities there have now barred them from entry to the country.
Those
Rohingya that managed to reach Bangladesh said Burmese troops were
"killing men, shooting them, slaughtering children, raping women, burning
and looting houses, forcing these people to cross the river (into
Bangladesh)," according to John McKissick, head of the United Nations
refugee agency in the Bangladeshi border town of Cox's Bazar.
He continued:
“It's very difficult for the Bangladeshi government to say the border is open
because this would further encourage the government of Myanmar to continue the
atrocities and push them out until they have achieved their ultimate goal of
ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority in Myanmar.”
Vivian Tan,
a press officer for the UN agency, said Mr McKissick was "recounting what
different sources, including new arrivals, have told him about the conditions
they fled" and added the reports were "very worrying".
The
government said it was "disappointed" by Mr McKissick's remarks.
But they
were welcomed by Phil Robertson, Deputy Director of the Asia Division of Human
Rights Watch (HRW) a monitoring group.
He told The
Independent: “It’s refreshing to see this senior UN official in Bangladesh
speak truth to power about what is happening in Rakhine state now, even if it
did spark a sadly nonsensical reply from the Myanmar government.
"We’ve
seen ethnic cleansing in Rakhine state before, when HRW documented ethnic
cleansing against the Rohingya in 2012. No one was held responsible for those
atrocities, everything was swept under the rug by the Myanmar government.
"No one
should forget either that that the Myanmar military conducted similar security
sweeps and committed atrocities against the Rohingya in 1978 and 1992, driving
hundreds of thousands of Rohingya into Bangladesh in both instances."
The Rohingya
people are a Muslim minority and have their own language. Despite living in
Rakhine in Burma, they are much maligned within their own country and have
often suffered discrimination and persecution at the hands of hard line
Buddhist nationalists.
Mr Robertson
continued: "It’s time for the Myanmar government to urgently allow access
for a new, UN assisted investigation to take place into the torching of
villages and serious rights abuses now occurring in parts of Maungdaw township
– and be prepared to hold the perpetrators accountable."
An attack
killing nine Burmese government border guards, by suspected Rohingya militants,
in October led to the “collective punishment” of the minority group, the
UNHCR's Mr McKissick said.
While the
Burmese authorities insist the military operation is aimed at routing out
militants, Rohingya who have made it out of Rakhine into Bangladesh say
government troops have been killing and burning down villages.
One of these
refugees was farmer Deen Mohammad, who told AFP: "They (Myanmar's
military) took my two boys, aged nine and 12 when they entered my village. I
don't know what happened to them."
"They
took women in rooms and then locked them from inside. Up to 50 women and girls
of our village were tortured and raped."
Access to
journalists and aid workers has been blocked, preventing the outside world from
knowing what is really going on in Rakhine.
However, HRW
has released satellite imagery which it said showed the razing of Rohingya
villages in the state. As of 21 November, 1,250 Rohingya buildings had been
destroyed, the group said.
Mr Robertson
said the government had been seeking to "repress and rebut negative media
stories about their actions in Rakhine state from day one" of the crisis.
He cited the sacking of Myanmar Times journalist Fiona MacGregor after she
wrote a story in the newspaper reporting on the Rohingya's plight.
Aung San Suu
Kyi, who famously led democracy efforts in the country, has been accused of
failing to protect the Rohingya. Despite holding enormous influence in Burma,
she has remained quiet, only saying an investigation into the reports of
atrocities was underway in accordance with the law.
International
criticism is growing and the UN special rapporteur on Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, has
condemned the lockdown as "unacceptable".
Malaysia,
which has a sizable Rohingya community, has said it will “will summon the
ambassador of Myanmar to convey the government of Malaysia's concern over this
issue,” according to a foreign office statement.
It added:
“Malaysia also calls on the government of Myanmar to take all the necessary
actions to address the alleged ethnic cleansing in the northern Rakhine State.”
Protests
were held in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bangkok and Dhaka against the alleged
ethnic cleansing.