By @MayWongCNA
 |
| Rohingya villagers in Maungdaw, Rakhine look on as Myanmar's ministers address the crowd. (Photo: May Wong) |
MAUNGDAW, Myanmar: Around 2,000 Rohingyas have spent the
last two weeks under harsh weather conditions living on the Ah Lae Than Kyaw
beach in Maungdaw, in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.
The fleeing Rohingya said they left their villages
because their homes were either burnt down or they feel threatened.
Violence erupted in Rakhine after a group of insurgents
from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacked 30 official posts and
killed 12 people on Aug 25.
The militants claimed it was a defensive action to
counter the government’s atrocities against Rohingya Muslims, who have suffered
decades of oppression and deprivation of citizenship as well as basic rights.
The insurgent attacks have provoked Myanmar’s security
forces to hit back. The retaliation, however, has shocked the world with its
scope of destruction.
Since then, more than 500,000 ethnic Rohingya Muslims
have fled across the border to Bangladesh.
Those living on the beach have said the security forces
on both Bangladesh and Myanmar sides have stopped the boats coming from
Bangladesh to ferry them across.
On Tuesday (Oct 10), the ambassadors of China, India,
Bangladesh, Thailand and Laos were taken by helicopter to Maungdaw by the
Minister in State Counsellor's Office Kyaw Tint Swe.
The trip comes after State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi said in a speech on Sep 19 on the
Rohingya crisis that her government would allow foreign media and government
representatives to visit Rakhine. https://lnkd.in/gtg4wb6
 |
Myanmar ministers speaking to Rohingya villagers in
Maungdaw, Rakhine on
Tuesday as they visit the region with foreign ambassadors.
(Photo: May Wong)
|
The Myanmar government had said it wants to find out why
Rohingyas are leaving and are working out plans to repatriate those qualified
to return to Rakhine. Ministers from both countries met recently in Bangladesh
and both agreed to honour and implement the 1992 repatriation pact.
But many Rohingyas will unlikely qualify to return to
Myanmar because Myanmar does not recognise them as one of the ethnic groups in
the country. The Rohingyas are considered illegal immigrants from Bangladesh
while the community argues they have lived in Myanmar for decades.
A LIFE IN LIMBO FOR THE ROHINGYAS
Under Myanmar's 1982 citizenship law, Rohingyas will also
not qualify for application if they want to identify themselves as such.
The Myanmar government says they will start the process
of repatriation soon and hope to encourage those who have fled to return
promising safety. However many remain unconvinced.
One Rohingya who's been living on the beach for more than
10 days is Yasein Ulu.
The 20-year-old, who said he was born in Myanmar, insists
on going to Bangladesh even after the Myanmar government has dissuaded many
from doing so.
"I do not want to stay in the Myanmar country,” he
said. “We are Rohingya; that name is very important. If the government
recognises and accepts us as Rohingya, then I will stay in this country."
Yasein Ulu admits the conditions on the beach are harsh,
telling Channel NewsAsia that the young and the old get affected the most
because "food and medicine are difficult to find”.
“There’s no water here,” he said. "Babies and old
people … they are starving."
At least 10 babies, delivered under tarpaulin covers on
the beach, were seen when Channel NewsAsia visited the beach on Tuesday.
But there is nothing Yasein Ulu and others like him can
do, except to wait it out because Bangladeshi security forces have put an end
to boats crossing from, and crossing over to, Myanmar.
Visit here to read breaking news of
persecuted Rohingyas: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MirAhmedABSiddiquee
Like Facebook page, to read about Rohingya’s
news updates: https://www.facebook.com/mirsdq/
Visit here to know about persecuted
Rohingyas: https://mirsdq.blogspot.com/