By AFP
Maung Hnama, Rakhine
(Myanmar) (AFP) - Hemmed in by Myanmar security forces and menaced by
abductions and killings, Rohingya Muslims in a conflict-scarred corner of
Rakhine State say fear is one of the few constants in their lives.
The UN wants to
establish if that campaign amounted to ethnic cleansing after accounts of mass
rape, killing and arson emerged from Rohingya who fled to neighbouring
Bangladesh.
For those left
behind in the rattan-walled frontier villages the violence and insecurity is
unrelenting, locals told reporters, under the watch of Myanmar border forces
who steered the visit.
"Our husbands
are on the run. They left us because they are afraid of border guard
police," one Rohingya woman told AFP, requesting anonymity for safety
reasons.
"They burned
our house. We have no home and nothing to eat. Our husbands are hiding
somewhere."
The large-scale
military operation has abated but the area remains in lockdown, with sporadic
killings by military patrols still intent on rooting out "terrorists".
The UN believes
hundreds may have died in what may be the bloodiest chapter of
Buddhist-majority Myanmar's years-long persecution of the Rohingya Muslims.
The minority are
widely reviled as illegal migrants from Bangladesh, although many Rohingya
families say their ancestors have lived in the area for generations.
Now a new peril has
emerged: scores of local men have been abducted and murdered by unknown gangs
of knife-wielding men, with state media reporting they are dressed in black and
often wearing masks.
Authorities say the
assassins are targeting leaders from the Muslim minority and anyone perceived
to be a state collaborator. They blame Rohingya militants for the murders.
International Crisis
Group analyst Richard Horsey says some 60 people may have been targeted in a
"systematic" campaign "to take out Muslims who are in some way
connected to, or perceived to be connected to, authorities".
Mysterious killings
In an area stained
by mistrust and rumour it is unclear who is behind the attacks -- and the fear
is intensifying in the face of almost daily reports of killings.
Earlier this month
unidentified men dragged father-of-six Atthu Suwan from the bed he was sharing
with his wife in Maung Hnama village.
They stabbed the
44-year-old, who occasionally worked as a translator for local officials, and
carried his body into the darkness, his family and friends told reporters on
the government-run press trip.
"I haven't even
been able to eat since they took my son," his elderly mother Moeyeyan
Khatu said, her face etched with sadness.
On Monday state
media reported his body had been found abandoned in a nearby creek.
"We are fearful
it (the killings) will happen again," his neighbour, 67-year-old Hanumyar,
told AFP.
The government
blames the attacks on the self-styled Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a
newly formed Rohingya militant group.
The group denies any
involvment, instead accusing the military in statements issued through an
unverified Twitter account.
They do however
claim the raids on police border posts last October.
The raids sparked
the months-long "clearance operation" by the military which sent more
than 70,000 fleeing into Bangladesh.
Rohingya escapees
shared harrowing accounts of security officers slaughtering babies, burning
people alive and gang-raping women -- abuses UN investigators said may amount
to crimes against humanity.
The army denies the
claims and says its response was proportionate in the face of terrorist
interlopers.
But the crackdown
sparked global opprobrium and the UN has commissioned a fact-finding mission to
probe the violence.
Rock
and a hard place
Myanmar has refused
to cooperate with the probe, denying the investigators visas.
Unable to leave
because of travel restrictions and abject poverty, Rohingya villagers say they
are trapped between an oppressive state and vengeful militants.
Adding to the
climate of fear, death threats and fatwas (Islamic religious rulings) have
circulated on social media aimed at anyone who dares to stand against the
militants, according to several analysts and Rohingya sources.
On the media visit,
officials sought to play down the military's campaign -- and the murders.
Police Brigadier
General San Lwin, chief of Rakhine's state police, said some of the killings
might relate to "personal grudges" and not militancy.
But locals say they
are now frightened to take official posts in case they too become targets.
A 35-year-old Muslim
man, recently appointed as a household head in Tinmay village, said his
predecessor was killed in April after talking to local reporters.
"I do not sleep
at home," he added, requesting anonymity. "I sleep at a police
outpost with security."