An apparently dead
baby is shown laid out on sand after being pulled from a river over which some
15,000 members of the minority cross every day to flee Burma
By Jeff Farrell (Independent)
Bodies of Rohingya
Muslim children have washed up on a river after reportedly being shot dead by
police in Burma, according to a video that has emerged of the scene.
Crowds stand around
the apparently lifeless bodies of what looks like a young boy and an infant
both laid out on the sand on the shore of the Naf River, which forms a natural
border with neighbouring Bangladesh.
A young boy in
shorts then appears in the frame carrying the small body of a baby and gently
places it next to the boy. None of the three children are seen moving and
appear to be dead.
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miss to read this: https://lnkd.in/gSiKuuu
Relatives of
Rohingya Muslims who live overseas and saw the video told how their relatives
are being “slaughtered” by the military and the police when they try to flee
Burma.
Almost 400,000
Rohingya have fled over the Naf crossing over the past three weeks amid claims
they are being burnt out of their villages in what was called a “textbook
example of ethnic cleansing” by Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein, the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Some 100 members of
the minority have reportedly drowned while trying to make the treacherous
journey to escape deadly persecution in Burma while packed into boats and
clutching their few possessions.
Horrific pictures of Rohingya exodus: https://lnkd.in/evf_ZZz
Rohingya Muslims who
have already sought refuge overseas in the past spoke out after seeing the
video.
Community leader
Anwar Sha, who lives in Australia, said he was aware that tens of thousands are
still trying to flee.
He told the ABC news
channel, which broadcast the video, that there were about 30,000 people trapped
in the hills – far from the relative safety of Bangladesh.
Graphic:
Dead bodies of fleeing Rohingyas are floating along the Naf river shore: https://t.co/1bTPFPigM4
"They have no
food, they have no shelter. They are just dying there," he said.
"As soon as
they try to go out of there, group by group, the military and the police are
attacking them and slaughtering them."
He added: "I
hear one of [my] sisters has already crossed to Bangladesh, but two other
sisters — I have not heard about them.
"There is no
contact with them and I don't know where they are."
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Some 1,000 Rohingya
have been reportedly killed by the military and police in Burma over the past
three weeks.
Burma’s leader Aung
San Suu Kyi has come under fire for failing to speak out against the outbreak
of violence against the Rohingya which has been condemned by the United
Nations.
Its human rights
official Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein hit out at the “brutal security operation”
against the persecuted people and called it “a textbook example of ethnic
cleansing”.