Burma Human Rights Network says Rohingya in
camps in Myanmar's Sittwe lack access to basic human rights
A London-based rights group on Thursday said
that Rohingya fleeing Myanmar’s Rakhine State in boats were a living example of
the ongoing genocide by the state.
“The Rohingya who are fleeing from Rakhine
State are mostly leaving IDP (Internally Displaced Person) camps in [Rakhine
State’s capital] Sittwe, where they have been stuck in squalid conditions with
no hope of resettlement since 2012,” said the Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN)
in a statement.
“The Rohingya fleeing are doing so due to
conditions implemented and maintained by the Burmese government and security
forces.
"In creating these conditions they have
made life unbearable for the Rohingya, forcing them to seek ways to leave the
country as part of a broader campaign of genocide against the Rohingya,” said
Kyaw Win, executive director of the group, using another name for Myanmar.
Shedding light on an incident in late
November, the statement said Myanmar authorities intercepted a boat with 93
Rohingya aboard who were trying to reach Malaysia.
“Those Rohingya who were stopped by the
Burmese authorities were returned to their IDP camps in Sittwe after being
detained and then forced to accept National Verification Cards which do not
allow them to self-identify their ethnicity but instead refer to Rohingya as
Bangladeshis,” it said, referring to three boats intercepted by the Myanmar
authorities.
A fresh exodus of Rohingya is fleeing Myanmar
over the past month making dangerous voyages in small boats to Thailand and
Malaysia aided by human smugglers.
To pay human smugglers, Rohingya often sell
all of their belongings -- including ration cards, the rights group said,
adding that returning them to the camps is putting them in a worse situation
than before.
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| Press Statement of BHRN |
“Clearly the Burmese authorities do not want
the Rohingya in Burma, and returning those who fled to a worse hell seems to be
an intentional effort to make them suffer even more,” Kyaw Win was quoted.
The agency called on the international
community to take action before the issue gets worse.
“The Burmese Government must be held
accountable for the conditions they have created in Sittwe and the actions they
took to expel nearly 800,000 Rohingya in 2017,” it said.
The Rohingya, described by the UN as the
world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since
dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.
According to Amnesty International, more than
750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, have fled Myanmar and
crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the
minority Muslim community in August last year.
Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya
Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to a report by
the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).
More than 34,000 Rohingya were also thrown
into fires, while over 114,000 others were beaten, said the OIDA report, titled
"Forced Migration of Rohingya: The Untold Experience."
Some 18,000 Rohingya women and girls were
raped by Myanmar’s army and police and over 115,000 Rohingya homes were burned
down and 113,000 others vandalized, it added.
The UN has also documented mass gang rapes,
killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings and
disappearances committed by Myanmar state forces.
In a report, UN investigators said such
violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.
Sources: AA