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Rohingya Muslims, fled from
violence over Muslims in
Myanmar take shelter at Leda unregistered Rohingya
camp
in Teknaf, Bangladesh on December 05, 2016.
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Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims Face a Surge in Horrific
Persecution
Satellite images show at least
1,500 buildings burned, amid allegations of violent attacks and sexual assault.
Read The Huffington Post And RYOT’s project Behind The Fence
and watch 360 Video
Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims have
faced a new wave of violence in recent months, adding to the minority group’s
status as one of the world’s most persecuted peoples. Newly released satellite
images show that at least 1,500 buildings in Rohingya villages have been burned
since early October, according to a Human Rights
Watch report released on Wednesday.
The rights group’s report
places the blame for the arson attacks with Myanmar’s army, which for decades
has carried out alleged human rights abuses against the Rohingya under the
pretense of fighting Islamist insurgents. Along with regime attacks, Myanmar’s
more than 1 million Rohingya are the subject of widespread discrimination from
much of the country’s Buddhist population that refuses to view them as a
distinct ethnic group.
The Rohingya are also at the
center of an enormous refugee crisis, with an estimated 200,000 living in camps
in neighboring Bangladesh: Thousands more are attempting
to seek safety in countries across the region. A surge in violence in
2012 in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state destroyed numerous Rohingya homes. At
least 100,000 Rohingya were relocated to internment camps where their movements
are restricted and they often lack access to basic necessities and health
services.
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| HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORT |
The latest spate of attacks
against the Rohingya come after police in Myanmar say nine of their officers
were killed in an attack in Rakhine on Oct. 9, which they blame on Rohingya
militancy. In response, Myanmar’s army has carried out what rights groups
allege is a systematic and indiscriminate campaign against Rohingya villages in
the state.
Rohingya villagers told rights groups that the army has used
helicopter gunships to fire on civilians. They also say soldiers have set fire
to their homes. Multiple Rohingya women also reported
to Reuters in late October that soldiers raped or sexually assaulted
dozens of villagers at gunpoint during the military advance. Thousands of
Rohingya who attempted to flee to Bangladesh in recent months
have been turned back, according to Amnesty International.
Told rights group: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/11/bangladesh-pushes-back-rohingya-refugees-amid-collective-punishment-in-myanmar/
reported to
Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-exclusive-idUSKCN12S0AP
months have been
turned back: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/11/bangladesh-pushes-back-rohingya-refugees-amid-collective-punishment-in-myanmar/
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Rohingya Muslims cry as Border
Guard Bangladesh (BGB)
catch them in a check post in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh,
November 21, 2016.
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too “dirty” for
soldiers to rape: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37892512
The army blocks
media access: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37968090
The leader of Myanmar’s
government, nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has remained
largely silent on the army’s attacks. Although she is the de facto head
of government after the country ended decades of military rule earlier this
year, the army still retains considerable power. Aung San Suu Kyi’s reticence
to place blame on the military or condemn the attacks on Rohingya has led to
widespread criticism from rights groups and observers who hoped that she would
address the country’s longstanding human rights violations.
remained largely
silent: http://nyti.ms/2gqSrSY
See The Huffington Post and
RYOT’s project Behind The Fence to take a
virtual reality look at the plight of the Rohingya in Myanmar.