Rohingya news, updates

[MarveL]

Myanmar: 28 killed in new violence in Rakhine state
Military says it killed 28 people who attacked security forces in Rakhine state as violence continues.

Myanmar police patrol along the border fence between Myanmar and Bangladesh in Maungdaw district [File: Thein Zaw/AP]

Myanmar's military says at least 28 people have been killed during renewed clashes in western Rakhine state.

The announcement on Sunday came the same day a Human Rights Watch report said satellite images appeared to show three Muslim Rohingya villages had been "burned to the ground" in recent weeks.

In a statement published online, the military said 22 attackers armed with swords were killed near Dar Gyi Zar village after they charged at soldiers, adding another six attackers were killed during clashes elsewhere in the restive state.

Al Jazeera Exclusive: Myanmar soldiers allegedly killed Rohingya villagers


Authorities have heavily restricted access to the area, which came under deadly attack last month, making it difficult to independently verify government reports or accusations of army abuse.

Northern Rakhine, which is home to the Muslim Rohingya minority and borders Bangladesh, has been under military lockdown ever since surprise raids on border posts left nine police dead last month.

Soldiers have killed several dozen people and arrested scores in their hunt for the attackers, who the government said are radicalised Rohingya people with links to foreign armed groups.

On Saturday, the military claimed two soldiers and six attackers were killed in an ambush, after helicopter gunships were deployed.

Rohingya villages burned down
The crisis and reports of grave rights abuses being carried out in tandem with the security crackdown have piled international pressure on Myanmar's new civilian government, and raised questions about its ability to control its military.

New York-based HRW urged authorities to invite United Nations investigators to look into the destruction of a total of 430 buildings in three villages in the northern Maungdaw district between October 22 and November 10.

"New satellite images not only confirm the widespread destruction of Rohingya villages, but show that it was even greater than we first thought," Brad Adams, HRW's Asia director, said in a statement.

According to the group, the damage took place in the villages of Pyaung Pyit, Kyet Yoe Pyin, and Wa Peik.

Rohingya people are a stateless minority whom Buddhist nationalists vilify as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh - even though many have lived in Myanmar for generations.

The latest outbreak of violence came at a time of heightened tensions between the authorities and the ethnic Rohingya community, which has seen the government arm non-Muslim civilians in Rakhine and renewed crackdowns on the Rohingya.

Satellite images showing the three villages in Myanmar where hundreds of buildings have been burned in recent weeks [NASA/HRW]

Source: Al Jazeera And Agencies


http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/11/myanmar-28-killed-violence-rakhine-state-161113154124605.html

 

[MarveL]

Myanmar's army kills 69 'attackers' in Rakhine state
Death toll spike comes as former UN chief Kofi Annan expresses "deep concern" over crackdown on Rohingya Muslims.

Myanmar: Rakhine state still under military lockdown. Myanmar's 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims are denied citizenship and face persecution [Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters]

Nearly 70 "violent attackers" have been killed by Myanmar's security forces in northern Rakhine state over the past week, the army said, claiming the dead were members of an armed Rohingya group.

Ten policemen and seven soldiers were also killed in clashes, the military added.

The announcement takes to 102 the tally of deaths of suspected Rohingya Muslim attackers since October 9, while the security forces' toll stands at 32, based on reports in state-owned media.

A series of skirmishes and attacks over the past week led "to the death of 69 violent attackers and the arrest of 234", the military's True News Information Team said late on Monday.

'Deep concern'
The bloodshed is the most serious since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in Rakhine in 2012.

Myanmar's 1.1 million Rohingya are denied citizenship with many of the country's majority Buddhists regarding them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

The death toll update came as former United Nations chief Kofi Annan, who chairs a commission on resolving Rakhine's problems, voiced concern at the upsurge in violence.

"I wish to express my deep concern over the recent violence in northern Rakhine state, which is plunging the state into renewed instability and creating new displacement," said Annan in a statement.

"All communities must renounce violence, and I urge the security services to act in full compliance with the rule of law," he said.

Rohingya face severe restrictions on travel and access to healthcare [Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters]

US State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said on Tuesday a US delegation holding previously scheduled talks in Myanmar urged the government to "improve transparency".

The US also repeated its call for an independent investigation and humanitarian access.

The violence has exposed tensions between Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi's seven-month-old civilian administration and the army, which ruled for decades and retains key powers, including control of ministries responsible for security.

Members of an investigative commission, set up by Suu Kyi in August, are in Rakhine for consultations with community members this week.

Soldiers have poured into the area along Myanmar's frontier with Bangladesh, responding to coordinated attacks on three border posts on October 9 that killed nine police officers.

They have locked down the district, where the vast majority of residents are Rohingya Muslims, shutting out aid workers and independent observers, and conducting sweeps of villages.

The Rohingya face severe restrictions on travel and access to healthcare. Many were dependent on regular nutritional and medical aid long before the outbreak of fighting in October.


http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/...-attackers-rakhine-state-161115131026394.html



This Muslim purge in Myanmar is so awful you can see it from space

November 15, 2016 · 1:30 PM EST

A satellite image from Nov. 10 shows a Muslim village burned down in an arson spree allegedly committed by Myanmar’s army. According to Human Rights Watch, at least 400 buildings in Muslim-majority parts of Myanmar have been destroyed.

Credit:
Human Rights Watch/Courtesy

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If Myanmar’s notorious army is to be believed — that’s a very big if — its soldiers are facing a highly deranged adversary.

Along Myanmar’s marshy coastline, villages keep going up in flames. All of them belong to the Rohingya, a horribly persecuted Muslim group. The arsonists? Muslims themselves, according to the army.

The Rohingya, we are told, are burning their own homes to attract well-armed government platoons — and then sprinting at them with knives, berserker style, so that they can get mowed down by the dozens.

This narrative defies logic. But it’s hard to challenge directly — and that’s how the army likes it.

Myanmar’s military has turned much of the Rohingya’s homeland into a no-go zone for aid workers and non-compliant journalists. It has become, in the words of one expert, an “information black hole.”

Relieved of prying eyes, the military is aggressively purging Muslim villages that have been infiltrated by an “extremist violent ideology.”

These raids began shortly after the October emergence of a poorly armed Rohingya militant group numbering in the hundreds. According to government reports, a series of clashes have killed about 17 officers and more than 65 militants.

Simply not plausible that villagers "burned their own houses". https://t.co/NYrqOqyUNS

— Richard Horsey (@rshorsey) November 13, 2016

The military is now in a highly advantageous position. It brings superior firepower — columns of troops and attack choppers — to combat a ragtag group that is mostly armed with “small guns, swords, spears and sticks.”

Furthermore, Myanmar’s predominately Buddhist citizens appear to broadly support the army’s purges. In one of Asia’s most ethnically diverse nations, no group is as denigrated as the Rohingya.

Even fresh claims of soldiers gang-raping Rohingya women at gunpoint have stirred little domestic outcry. One official, speaking to the BBC, has refuted the claims by insisting Rohingya women are too “dirty” to arouse troops.

The army is operating in a void, free of critical onlookers who might defy the official narrative. However, technology offers a few ways to illuminate the facts.

Using satellite images, Human Rights Watch has monitored the remote region where the army’s purge is ongoing. Their findings: a widespread torching of villages that has incinerated at least 400 buildings.

“These satellite images of village destruction could be the tip of the iceberg given the grave abuses being reported,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director with Human Rights Watch.

In addition to cameras orbiting the Earth, mobile phone cameras are also helping to reveal Rohingya suffering. Shaky footage, allegedly capturing the aftermath of air strikes, appears to show the corpses of children sprawled out on the grass.

The exact nature of these videos is hard to verify. But they suggest the Rohingya death toll is not limited to wild-eyed terrorists rushing suicidally at soldiers.

The story is always the same. Troops enter Rohingya village on "clearance operations". Discover "violent attackers". Arrest or shoot.

— Jonah Fisher (@JonahFisherBBC) November 15, 2016

The plight of the Rohingya, already among the world’s most tormented groups, appears to grow increasingly dire.

About 10 percent of the population of approximately 1 million already lives in bleak internment camps controlled by the army. Food and medicine is scarce. Travel outside is restricted. Hunger is rampant.

As for the nation’s much-celebrated pro-democracy crowd that swirls around Myanmar’s iconic, de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi? They have seemed largely dismissive of Rohingya woes for years.

The emergence of inept militants, vowing to liberate their Rohingya people, has only legitimized the public’s distrust of Muslims. But there are signs that their tragedy could worsen from here.

Myanmar’s government now plans to arm and train an all-Buddhist militia in the same state the Rohingya inhabit. This new armed wing would be composed of ethnic Arakanese, Buddhists who are also native to the area.

One international monitoring group, the International Commission of Jurists, has called this a “recipe for disaster.” But the plan is favored by one of the loudest anti-Rohingya organizations, the Arakan National Party, which favors “inhuman acts” to rid their homeland of Muslims.

Last week, as the army stormed Muslim villages, the group found time to congratulate Donald Trump for winning the US presidential election.

“Being engulfed in Islamization and illegal immigration problems,” the party wrote, “we the Arakanese people look up to you as a new world leader who will change the rigged system being infested with jihadi infiltrators.”

http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-11-15/muslim-purge-myanmar-so-awful-you-can-see-it-space



Around 200 Rohingya stranded at Bangladesh border

AFP on November 15, 2016, 9:15 pm

Around 200 Rohingya stranded at Bangladesh border

Dhaka (AFP) - Around 200 Rohingya Muslims fleeing a surge in violence after security forces took control of Myanmar's Rakhine state last month are stranded at the Bangladesh border, community leaders said Tuesday.

Bangladeshi border guards pushed back the Rohingya -- mostly women and children -- to the Myanmar side on Monday, community leaders told AFP.

"We heard they are 200 in number. They are mostly women and children who were only seeking a safe place to stay. They have no homes to go back," one of the Rohingya leaders told AFP from a refugee camp in Bangladesh's Teknaf border town.

A border guard spokesman put the figure at closer to 80.

Nearly 70 people have died in clashes with security forces since the Myanmar army swooped into Rakhine state, an area along the border with Bangladesh that is home to the Muslim Rohingya minority.

Violence escalated over the weekend, with troops killing more than 30 people in two days of fighting, according to the Myanmar army.

Activists say the actual toll could be much higher, accusing troops of killing civilians, raping women and torching homes -- allegations the army denies.

Authorities have heavily restricted access to the area, making it difficult to independently verify government reports or accusations of army abuse.

The stranded Rohingya crossed the Naf River -- which divides the two countries -- by boats in the early hours of Monday and were immediately sent back by Bangladeshi border guards.

"We have stopped and pushed back around 80 Rohingya people yesterday (Monday)," border guard spokesman, Major Abu Russell Siddique, told AFP.

He said the Rohingya who were pushed back were economic migrants "looking for work and treatment", and denied the community leaders' claim that they were victims of recent violence in Rakhine.

Another border guard commander told AFP that Monday's group was the largest number of Rohingya pushed back since violence erupted in early October.

Nineteen-year-old Mohammad Towhid told AFP by phone that he also crossed in the early hours of Monday, but managed to avoid the border guards.

"They (Myanmar army) shot dead my sister before my eyes. I hid underneath heaps of cow dung during the attack. As the night fell, I rushed to the border," Towhid said, speaking from a Teknaf refugee camp.

"I left my mother alone at home. I don't know whether she survived or not," he said, adding that troops had torched hundreds of Rohingya homes.

The UN has labelled the Rohingya as one of the world's most persecuted peoples.

They are branded as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh by Myanmar's majority Buddhist population despite their long roots in the country, where they face apartheid-like restrictions on movement and are denied citizenship.

But the Bangladeshi government also refuses to register the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees living on its side of the border.

AFP

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/33223361/around-200-rohingya-stranded-at-bangladesh-border/

 

[TopCat]

Myanmar’s War on the Rohingya


Myanmar has long persecuted the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority, denying it basic rights to citizenship, to marry, to worship and to an education. After violence unleashed in 2012 by Buddhist extremists drove tens of thousands of Rohingya out of their homes, many risked their lives to escape in smugglers’ boats; more than 100,000 others are living in squalid internment camps. Now, a counterinsurgency operation by Myanmar’s military is again forcing thousands of Rohingya to abandon their villages.

Over the weekend and on Monday, according to Reuters, hundreds of Rohingya Muslims crossed from Myanmar into Bangladesh seeking shelter from the escalating violence. An official from the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations agency, told the news agency that he had seen more than 500 people enter its camps in the hills near the border. Meanwhile, Reuters also reported fighting between security forces and rebels on Myanmar’s border with China.

The military’s counterinsurgency operation began as a response to an attack on Oct. 9 by armed assailants that left nine police officers dead in Rakhine State. It is not clear who the assailants were, and theories range from drug gangs to Islamist terrorists. Since then, more than 100 people, mostly civilians, have been killed by the military. Satellite images published by Human Rights Watch indicate that at least 430 homes were burned in villages in northern Rakhine State between Oct. 22 and Nov. 10.

There are credible allegations of soldiers looting, killing unarmed people and raping women. The government denies this. U Aung Win, the chairman of a Rakhine State investigation into the Oct. 9 attack, said soldiers would not rape Rohingya women because they “are very dirty.”

The Oct. 9 attack may have been set off by an earlier government announcement that it planned to destroy illegal structures in the area, including more than 2,500 homes, 600 shops, a dozen mosques and more than 30 schools. “That was saying we have to reduce the population of Rohingya,” said U Kyaw Min, a Rohingya who is the chairman of the Democracy and Human Rights Party.

One year ago, after a historic election, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the longtime democracy champion and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, became head of a new democratic government, inspiring hope that she would bring an end to the Rohingya’s suffering. In September, the Obama administration eased remaining economic sanctions on Myanmar, citing, among other achievements, the new government’s focus on bringing “respect for human rights to its people.”

That call now appears to have been premature. Ms. Aung San Suu Kyiherself insists on underlining the Rohingya’s foreignness by referring to them as “Bengalis” and argues that the government’s response to the attack is based on “the rule of law.”

Meanwhile, most humanitarian assistance has been cut off to the area. Unicef has warned that thousands of malnourished children are in danger of starving and lack medical care. The government must immediately allow aid to reach those in need. The United Nations and the United States are calling for an impartial investigation into the violence, and Human Rights Watch is urging the government to invite the United Nations to assist. If Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi wants to defend her reputation as a human rights champion, she needs to extend that invitation now.


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/opinion/myanmars-war-on-the-rohingya.html?_r=0

 

[Species]

Burma Is Pursuing ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ of Rohingya Muslims, U.N. Official Says

Thousands of stateless Rohingya Muslims are trying to reach Bangladesh amid reports of abuse by the Burmese army

Burmese authorities are carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya Muslim minority in the country’s western Arakan state, a senior U.N. official said, as the military continues to sweep the area for what it has labeled Islamic militants.

The BBC reports that John McKissick, a representative of the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, said Burmese troops have been “killing men, shooting them, slaughtering children, raping women, burning and looting houses, forcing these people to cross the river” into neighboring Bangladesh.

Thousands of Rohingya have already sought refuge in Bangladesh, the BBC cited the country’s Foreign Ministry as saying. Thousands more are reportedly turning up at the border hoping to escape. Bangladesh does not view the Rohingya as refugees, and its official policy is to not allow them in.

The Rohingya are denied citizenship in Burma, officially called Myanmar, and are viewed by many as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, which also does not accept them. The group, numbering about 1.1 million people, is viewed as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities. Tens of thousands have poured across the border for decades to seek refuge in one of several refugee camps near Cox’s Bazaar.

Read more: The Rohingya, Burma’s Forgotten Muslims by James Nachtwey

“Now it’s very difficult for the Bangladeshi government to say the border is open because this would further encourage the government of Myanmar to continue the atrocities and push them out until they have achieved their ultimate goal of ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority in Myanmar,” McKissick told the BBC.

According to Amnesty International, the Bangladeshi government has begun forcibly repatriating the asylum seekers by the thousands, in defiance of international law.

UNHCR and Amnesty have accused the Burmese government of “collective punishment,” as the Burmese military carries out counterterrorism operations in the remote and conflict-torn state.

Parts of northern Arakan, also known as Rakhine, have been on military lockdown since Oct. 9, when nine border police guards were killed in what appear to have been coordinated attacks on three security posts. The government said the assailants were Islamic militants, and began its search for what it said were hundreds of Rohingya jihadists.

Read more: Something Shocking is Happening to Burma’s Rohingya People. Take a Look at This Timeline

Humanitarian aid workers and independent journalists have been barred from the area since the start of the lockdown. More than 150,000 people who normally receive life-saving assistance have received no food or medical aid for more than six weeks. Over 3,000 children diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition have not received treatment; as many as half of them are at serious risk of death.

Reports of atrocities have surfaced over the past few weeks. Reuters reported that dozens of women claim to have been raped by Burmese soldiers, and Human Rights Watch this week revealed satellite images that appear to show more than 1,200 buildings that had been burned to the ground. More than 100 people have been killed and hundreds of others detained by the army, which has admitted to using helicopter strikes against alleged lightly armed suspects.

The Burmese government vehemently denies all allegations of wrongdoing. Presidential spokesman Zaw Htay told the BBC that he was “very, very disappointed” by the remarks made by McKissick, saying he should “only speak based on concrete and strong evidence on the ground.” That would be an impossible task given the complete lack of access to the area.

Read More: ‘We Cannot Believe Aung San Suu Kyi’: Why Many in Burma Are Losing Hope of Peace

The U.N. and the U.S. have called for an independent investigation into allegations of abuse.

The past six weeks have been the deadliest in the state since riots between Buddhists and Muslims killed more than 100 in 2012, most of them Rohingya. About 100,000 are still confined to squalid displacement camps where they are denied movement, education and healthcare.

The government’s de facto leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has made few public remarks on the crisis. While human-rights advocates have criticized her silence, political analysts say the issue has exposed the limits of her power; the military still controls the key Ministries of Home Affairs, Border Affairs and Defense.

Her party took power in April after winning elections last year, bringing an end to decades of military rule. Recent events in Arakan state, as well as renewed conflict in the country’s east between the Burmese army and ethnic rebels, have led many to question who is ultimately in control.

See more at - http://time.com/4582157/burma-myanmar-rohingya-bangladesh-arakan-ethnic-cleansing-suu-kyi/

 

[Species]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/myanmar-crisis-sparks-muslim-protests-asian-capitals-114833792.html
Myanmar crisis sparks Muslim protests in Asian capitals

Shafiqul Alam
AFPNovember 25, 2016

View photos
Ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees shout slogans during a protest against the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, outside the Myanmar Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on November 25, 2016 (AFP Photo/Manan Vatsyayana)
Dhaka (AFP) - Angry Muslim protesters took to the streets from Jakarta to Dhaka on Friday to denounce Myanmar over allegations of indiscriminate killing and rape in a military crackdown on the country's Rohingya Muslim minority.

Around 5,000 Bangladeshi Muslims demonstrated in the capital Dhaka after Friday prayers, with hundreds more protesting in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Bangkok to accuse Myanmar of ethnic cleansing and genocide in its northern Rakhine state.

Muslim-majority Malaysia's Cabinet also issued a statement condemning the violence, an unusually strong criticism against a fellow member of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"Malaysia... calls on the government of Myanmar to take all necessary actions to address the alleged ethnic cleansing," the statement said.

It said the Myanmar ambassador would be summoned over the crisis and that Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman would meet with de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other top Myanmar officials "at the earliest possible date."

Up to 30,000 Rohingya have abandoned their homes in Myanmar to escape the unfolding violence, the UN says, after troops poured into the narrow strip where they live earlier this month.

Rohingya are denied citizenship and subject to harsh restrictions in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where many view them as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, though many have lived been in Myanmar for generations.

The Dhaka protesters gathered outside the Baitul Mokarram mosque, the country’s largest, to demand an end to the violence, denounce Suu Kyi, and calling for Bangladesh to accept fleeing Rohingya.

Around 500 Malaysians and Rohingya marched through a heavy tropical downpour from a Kuala Lumpur mosque to Myanmar's embassy carrying banners denouncing the Rakhine "genocide."

Abu Tahir, a 60-year-old Rohingya man who demonstrated with a chain coiled around his body, said he had been cut off from his family in Rakhine since he fled two years ago.

"The Rohingya are being treated like dogs, and are being killed," he said, tears rolling down his face.

Amir Hamzah, 60, who heads the Malaysian Muslims Coalition, an NGO, said "the people of Malaysia strongly condemn" Myanmar's actions.

"We want an immediate stop to the violence. This is cruel," he said.

In Jakarta, around 200 demonstrators from Indonesian Islamic organisations protested outside Myanmar's embassy.

Chanting "Allahu Akbar! (God is greater!)", they called for the government of Indonesia -- the world's most populous Muslim nation -- to break off diplomatic ties with Myanmar and for Suu Kyi's 1991 Nobel Peace Prize to be revoked.

"This genocide is happening to women, children and the elderly," said Maya Hayati, a 34-year-old housewife.

"If they (Myanmar) don't want them, then it's probably better to send them to another country. Don't torture them like that in their own country."

The UN says the stateless Rohingya are among the world's most persecuted minorities.

The UN refugee agency says well over 120,000 have fled Rakhine since a previous bout of bloody unrest in 2012, many braving a perilous sea journey to Malaysia.

Last year, thousands were stranded at sea after a well-worn trafficking route through Thailand collapsed following a police crackdown sparked by the discovery of brutal human-trafficking camps along the Malaysia border.

 

[Species]

This thread will only include the atrocities against Rohingyas.
@maroofz2000 @TopCat @Major d1 @Doyalbaba @bluesky

Gang rape, torture claims as Rohingya flee Myanmar

TEKNAF, Bangladesh: Horrifying stories of gang rape, torture and murder are emerging from among the thousands of desperate Rohingya migrants who have pushed into Bangladesh in the past few days to escape unfolding chaos in Myanmar.

Up to 30,000 of the impoverished ethnic group have fled their homes, the United Nations says, after troops poured into the narrow strip where they live earlier this month.

Bangladesh has resisted urgent international appeals to open its border to avert a humanitarian crisis, instead telling Myanmar it must do more to prevent the stateless Muslim minority from entering.

The scale of human suffering was becoming clear Thursday, as desperate people like Mohammad Ayaz told how troops attacked his village and killed his pregnant wife.

Cradling his two-year-old son, he said military men killed at least 300 men in the village market and gang-raped dozens of women before setting fire to around 300 houses, Muslim-owned shops and the mosque where he served as imam.

"They shot dead my wife, Jannatun Naim. She was 25 and seven months pregnant. I took refuge at a canal with my two-year-old son, who was hit by a rifle butt," Ayaz told AFP, pointing to a cut on the boy's forehead.

Ayaz sold his watch and shoes to pay for the journey and has taken shelter along with at least 200 of his neighbours at a camp for unregistered Rohingya refugees.

'DEEP CONCERN'

Many of those seeking shelter in Bangladesh say they have walked for days and used rickety boats to cross into the neighbouring country, where hundreds of thousands of registered Rohingya refugees have been living for decades.

The Rohingya are loathed by many in majority Buddhist Myanmar who see them as illegal immigrants and call them "Bengali", even though many have lived in Myanmar for generations.

Most live in impoverished western Rakhine state, but are denied citizenship and smothered by restrictions on movement and work.

As the crisis deepened, Bangladesh said late Wednesday it had summoned the Myanmar ambassador to express "deep concern".

"Despite our border guards' sincere effort to prevent the influx, thousands of distressed Myanmar citizens including women, children and elderly people continue to cross (the) border into Bangladesh," it said. "Thousands more have been reported to be gathering at the border crossing."

TORTURE AND RAPE

Since the latest violence flared up, Bangladesh's secular government has been under intense pressure to open its border to prevent a humanitarian disaster.

Instead, Bangladesh border guards have intensified patrols and coast guards have deployed extra ships. Officials say they have stopped around a thousand Rohingya at the border since Monday.

Farmer Deen Mohammad was among the thousands who evaded the patrols, sneaking into the Bangladeshi border town of Teknaf four days ago with his wife, two of their children and three other families.

"They (Myanmar's military) took my two boys, aged nine and 12 when they entered my village. I don't know what happened to them," Mohammad, 50, told AFP. "They took women in rooms and then locked them from inside. Up to 50 women and girls of our village were tortured and raped."

Mohammad said houses in his village were burned, echoing similar testimony from other recent arrivals.

Human Rights Watch said Monday it had identified more than 1,000 houses in Rohingya villages that had been razed in northwestern Myanmar using satellite images.

The Myanmar military has denied burning villages and even blamed the Rohingya themselves.

Jannat Ara said she fled with neighbours after her father was arrested and her 17-year-old sister disappeared, she believes raped and killed by the army.

"We heard that they tortured her to death. I don't know what happened to my mother," said Ara, who entered Bangladesh on Tuesday.

Rohingya community leaders said hundreds of families had taken shelter in camps in the Bangladeshi border towns of Teknaf and Ukhia, many hiding for fear they would be sent them back to Myanmar.

Police on Wednesday detained 70 Rohingya, including women and children, who they say they will send back across the border.

"They handcuffed even young girls and children and then took them away with a view to pushing them back to Myanmar," said one community leader who asked not to be named, adding they faced "certain death" if made to return.

See more at - http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...-claims-as-rohingya-flee-myanmar/3315000.html

 

[Species]

This thread will only include global reactions to the Rohingya genocide.
@maroofz2000 @TopCat @Major d1 @Doyalbaba @bluesky

West voices growing concern at Myanmar's handling of crisis: sources

Western nations are increasingly concerned at how Aung San Suu Kyi's government is dealing with violence in Myanmar's divided northwest, with the U.S. envoy to the United Nations privately warning fellow diplomats the country could not handle the crisis on its own.

Violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State has sent hundreds of Rohingya Muslims fleeing across the border to Bangladesh amid allegations of abuses by security forces, posing the biggest test yet for Suu Kyi's eight-month-old administration.

Samantha Power, Washington's ambassador to the UN, outlined the level of concern at a closed meeting of the United Nations Security Council, held at the United States' request at the body's headquarters in New York last Thursday, diplomats said.



"Initial enthusiasm of (the) international community to let Myanmar continue on this path of reform on its own seems to be dangerous at this stage," Power told the meeting, according to two diplomats briefed on the discussions.

Suu Kyi responded the next day by telling a gathering of diplomats in Myanmar's capital, Naypyitaw, that her country was being treated unfairly, sources said. They added, however, that Myanmar had also committed to restore aid access and launch a probe into allegations of rights abuses, the key points they had been pressing for.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi has for years been feted in the West for her role as a champion of democracy during years of military rule and house arrest, and her landslide election win last year on a platform of reform was widely hailed.

But the current crisis, the most serious bloodshed in Rakhine since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in 2012, has renewed international criticism that she has done too little to alleviate the plight of the Rohingya minority, who are denied citizenship and access to basic services.

Reuters spoke to about a dozen diplomats and aid workers, who described the previously unreported discussions in Myanmar and New York on condition of anonymity.



ABUSE ALLEGATIONS

Soldiers have poured into the area along Myanmar's frontier with Bangladesh, responding to coordinated attacks on three border posts on Oct. 9 that killed nine police officers.

Myanmar's military and the government have rejected allegations by residents and rights groups that soldiers have raped Rohingya women, burnt houses and killed civilians during the military operation in Rakhine.

Presidential spokesman Zaw Htay said Myanmar was "releasing correct news immediately" to prevent the spread of misinformation.

"The international community misunderstood us because of Rohingya lobbyists who distributed fabricated news," he said. "No one in the world would accept attacks on security forces, killings and looting of weapons."

At the New York meeting last week, Power renewed Washington's call for the opening of an office of the OHCHR, the UN's human rights body, in Myanmar.

She also warned that years of disenfranchisement might have triggered radicalization of some elements of the Rohingya community, describing the Security Council meeting as a "classic prevention moment".

State Department spokeswoman Nicole Thompson declined to comment on what was said at the closed-door Nov. 17 meeting.

"We remain concerned by reports of ongoing violence and displacement in northern Rakhine State," Thompson said.

"We continue to urge the government to conduct a credible, independent investigation into the events in Rakhine State, and renew our request for open media access."

Britain also expressed its concerns at the meeting, diplomats said, as did Malaysia, which voiced worries the violence could prompt a renewed regional migration crisis.

Underscoring the diplomatic tensions, Muslim-majority Malaysia said on Wednesday it was considering pulling out of a regional soccer tournament co-hosted by Myanmar in protest over its handling of the crisis.

Egypt's representative said it too was concerned by reports of radicalization among the Rohingya.



SUU KYI "UPSET"

Suu Kyi was "upset" at a gathering with top diplomats from the UN, United States, Britain, EU and Denmark in Naypyitaw on Friday, sources said, accusing the international community of an overt focus on one side of the conflict, without "having the real information".

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Diplomats and aid workers said the meeting focused on the resumption of aid in northern Rakhine, where provision of food and medicines to 150,000 people has been suspended for more than 40 days as the military has locked down the area.

The UN has said aid is urgently needed for more than 3,000 severely malnourished children who may die without help.

Suu Kyi expressed "positive indications" towards helping people obtain food aid, the diplomats said, but as of Wednesday the aid had not been restored.

Diplomats in Myanmar say they have been quietly trying to persuade Suu Kyi to allow aid access for some time, with some voicing frustration that she has pressed ahead with a busy schedule of long overseas trips during the crisis.

But while she dominates the civilian government, Suu Kyi remains severely constrained by the still-powerful military, which controls the defense, home and border affairs ministries, and some diplomats acknowledged the limits of what she could do.

At the New York meeting, the UN Secretary General's Special Advisor on Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, "painted a picture of a government in conflict between the civilian and the military", said a security council diplomat.

"A number of security council diplomats bought this line and felt the government needed more space," the diplomat said.

Diplomats were also assured that Myanmar was working to establish a commission to probe both the original attacks and allegations of abuses. A report in state media on Saturday referred only to the formation of a body to investigate "violent attacks" and did not specify whether it would include allegations against security forces.

Presidential spokesman Zaw Htay said the country was taking action in Rakhine, pointing to a citizen verification program aimed at the mostly stateless Rohingya and a special government-level task force on Rakhine appointed by Suu Kyi after assuming power.

"Our government is working on solving the problem in Rakhine State," said Zaw Htay.

 

[Species]

OIC breaks silence over plight of Rohingyas

• Probir Kumar Sarker
• Published at 10:49 PM November 23, 2016
• Last updated at 11:53 PM November 23, 2016

In a statement, the OIC secretary general called for an immediate cessation of violence including torture, rape and summary executions in Myanmar
Expressing deep concerns over reports of serious human rights violations against innocent Rohingya Muslims since early October, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has asked the Myanmar government to ensure that the security services act in full compliance with the rule of law.

In a statement published Tuesday, the OIC secretary general, Dr Yousef A Al-Othaimeen, called for an immediate cessation of violence including torture, rape and summary executions.

Also read- Massacre in Myanmar

He also urged the authorities of Myanmar to allow humanitarian aid agencies access to the affected region to provide needed relief to the victims.

“The OIC expresses further its concern that the destruction of homes and mosques has forced tens of thousands to flee their villages and the subsequent blockade in the region has also left many in the area facing acute shortages of food, water and essentials,” the statement reads.

He further called upon the government to abide by its obligations under international law and human rights covenants and take concrete steps to prevent the further deterioration of the crisis in Rakhine state.

A Rohingya Muslim woman and her son cry after being caught by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) while illegally crossing at a border check point in Cox’s Bazar , Bangladesh, November 21, 2016 REUTERS

The Myanmar Army and other security forces have reportedly killed several hundred Rohingyas in Rakhine state since last month after Islamist militants allegedly linked to Aqa Mul Mujahidin group and RSO launched attacks on the border police resulting in the deaths of a dozen law enforcers on October 9.

Also read- ATTACK ON ROHINGYAS: ‘It is horrifying’

Since then, thousands of Rohingyas have fled their homes, some of whom entered Bangladesh through Cox’s Bazar but were pushed back.

The OIC statement comes at a time when the latest operations have drawn severe criticisms in Bangladesh and elsewhere.

The United Nation’s refugee agency UNHCR on November 18 urged the Myanmar authorities to ensure the protection and dignity of all civilians on its territory in accordance with the rule of law and its international obligations.

Also read- Satellite images show Myanmar Rohingya villages torched

It asked Bangladesh to keep its border with Myanmar open for the Rohingyas. But the government has tightened its border security by deploying more personnel to prevent a further influx of Rohingyas.

Bangladesh Foreign Ministry Wednesday expressed “tremendous concern” over the ongoing persecution of Rohingya Muslims. However, the Myanmar ambassador to Bangladesh, Myo Myint Than, who was summoned by the ministry, claimed that the reports of atrocities against the Rohingyas were fabricated.

Also read- Suu Kyi seeks Hasina’s assistance to solve Rohingya issue

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Tuesday said that the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and the Coast Guard had been alerted to prevent the illegal entry of Rohingyas. “Rohingya migration is an uncomfortable issue for Bangladesh. Hopefully, no more illegal migration will happen now,” Kamal said.

 

[Species]

Rohingya at the "very end of genocide"

Claim mass starvation of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim community is taking place under current lockdown
World Bulletin / News Desk

Rohingya advocacy groups worldwide are calling for an international push to allow humanitarian aid to get through to western Rakhine State and stem what they refer to as the mass starvation of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim community.

For almost one month, areas of the state have been under lockdown after armed individuals killed nine officers and stole dozens of weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Restrictions have subsequently been placed on aid delivery and access to information in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships as the army continues to search for those responsible.

Maungdaw and Buthidaung are predominantly occupied by the country's stateless Rohingya Muslim population -- described by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minority groups in the world.


On Thursday, a statement from the groups headlined "International action needed as Rohingya face executions, rape, mass arrests and starvation" called on governments, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations to intervene.

"We appreciate that the NLD [National League for Democracy] led government has limited control over the military and security forces, but it cannot be said that that they are trying to do their best to end violations despite this,” it said, referring to Aung San Suu Kyi's political party which has set up an international fact-finding body to try and resolve the area’s problems.

"Instead they are acting in a way similar to previous military regimes... They are not only failing to act to try to curtail violations of international law by security forces and the military, through its state media it is actively attempting to deny abuses are taking place and publishing false news."

The statement claimed that if such abuses were happening under military rule, there would be international condemnation and talk of international investigations, sanctions and discussions at the United Nations Security Council.

Suu Kyi's democratically elected government -- which took office April 1 -- is the country’s first non-military government in 54 years.

"Instead we are seeing silence or muted responses, and no action," it underlined.

Mass Extermination

According to a damning new study by the International State Crime Initiative (ISCI) at the Queen Mary University of London, “The Rohingya face the final stages of genocide,” with mass extermination a very real possibility.

Maung Maung, a Rohingya man living in Rakhine capital Sittwe, has told Anadolu Agency that “bad things” had been happening in Maungdaw since the military operation began.

“We have had several calls from Maungdaw residents over the past few days. They said soldiers discriminate against them and forcibly took them for confession,” he said by phone on Tuesday.

“They said soldiers took innocent village men for interrogation... and Rohingya there told us they have not had enough food for a few days.”

On Monday, UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar Yanghee Lee said in a statement that even though a probe has been called for into the violence, the attacks continue.

“State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi has rightly called for proper investigations to be conducted and for no one to be accused until solid evidence is obtained," Lee sad.

"Instead, we receive repeated allegations of arbitrary arrests as well as extrajudicial killings occurring within the context of the security operations conducted by the authorities in search of the alleged attackers."

Thursday's statement claimed that there is no end in sight to the current abuses and that neither the military or the government were willing to admit to what is taking place and take action to prevent it.

"It therefore falls upon the international community to step in and protect the vulnerable Rohingya population who are facing multiple violations of international law," it said.

"International law was designed specifically for situations like this. The international community must now step up to its responsibilities."

Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, was quoted as saying that the community is facing a major crisis, but without a "major crisis response" from the international community.

"The numbers already killed, raped and arrested could just be the beginning if action is not taken," he said.

Every diplomatic, political and legal option must be pursued."

The statement called on ASEAN to publicly and privately pressure the military and the government to stop all human rights violations and lift restrictions on humanitarian aid.

It also wants UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to lead UN efforts and to personally demand an end to all human rights violations and the lifting all humanitarian aid restrictions.

The statement was signed by Rohingya organizations from the UK, Denmark, Japan, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Malaysia, and the Rohingya Arakanese Refugee Committee.

 

[Species]

Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi accused of 'legitimising genocide of Rohingya Muslims'

Rohingya Muslims demonstrate outside the Burmese embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Friday Getty
Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi, stands accused of not protecting Rohingya Muslims in the country and potentially “legitimising genocide”.

Military operations in Rakhine State have caused thousands to flee across the border to Bangladesh. A UN official said Rohingya in Burma were being ethnically cleansed with Rohingya alleging that government soldiers have killed and raped civilians.

The military action – launched in response to coordinated attacks by armed men on border posts in October - has left scores of people dead.

The army says it is fighting an armed insurgency in the region and the government denies abuses. “The international community misunderstood us because of Rohingya lobbyists who distributed fabricated news,” the presidential spokesman, Zaw Htay, said this week. “No one in the world would accept attacks on security forces, killings and looting of weapons.”

READ MORE

• Aung San Suu Kyi is failing to stop violence against Rohingya Muslims
• Suu Kyi: It will take time to solve Burma’s humanitarian crisis
• Suu Kyi pledges to uphold minority rights in UN speech
• Aung San Suu Kyi's former Oxford home is available to rent

Ms Suu Kyi’s failure to speak out in support of the Rohingya "is baffling to an international audience that persists in casting her as a human rights icon", said David Mathieson of Human Rights Watch.

"One version to explain her silence is callous indifference, another is calculated limited messaging ... but the most likely is she simply has no control over the Burmese army," he added.

Researchers at Queen Mary University London said her silence amounts to “legitimising genocide” and entrenching “the persecution of the Rohingya minority”.

• READ MORE

Rohingya Muslims being 'ethnically cleansed', says UN official
"Despite the fact that this is the most significant test of Suu Kyi's leadership, the country's de facto leader has remained remarkably indifferent," they said.

Rights groups say the military has used the attack on police border posts last month as an excuse for a crackdown on the Rohingya.

The Rohingya, a group of around a million, have been resident in Burma for decades – but are treated as illegal immigrants and denied citizenship.

Ms Suu Kyi took power this year after winning the country's first free elections in a generation. She stood on a platform of reconciliation for people across the country, but she has been hampered by a junta-era constitution that gives the army a quarter of parliamentary seats and control over security.

She also faces a prevailing view among many of Burma's Buddhists that the Rohingya are illegal immigrants and any move to support them would risk a public backlash.

Reports in Rakhine state cannot be independently verified because the government restricts access for journalists and aid workers. Aung San Suu Kyi has said a government-led investigation is under way.

Malaysia will summon Burma's ambassador over the crackdown on the Rohingya Muslims, it said on Friday, as protesters across South-east Asia demonstrated against the rising violence.

The Malaysian foreign ministry called on all parties involved to refrain from actions that could aggravate the situation.

"Malaysia also calls on the government of Myanmar [Burma] to take all the necessary actions to address the alleged ethnic cleansing in the northern Rakhine State," the ministry said in a statement.

"The ministry will summon the ambassador of Myanmar to convey the government of Malaysia's concern over this issue," it added, without giving a timeframe.

Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims marched in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, condemning the bloody crackdown on the persecuted minority and criticising Nobel Peace Prize winner Ms Suu Kyi for her inaction on the matter.

Protesters demanded humanitarian aid for Rakhine, and urged that the military seize all attackers.

Protests were also held simultaneously in Bangkok, the capital of neighbouring Thailand, in Bangladesh and in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.

Agencies contributed to this report.

 

[New World]

Why hadn't WEST invade Myanmar yet on Human rights violations.. I think they are more serious than Libyan and Syrian problems...

 

[Species]

 

[Species]

Former UN chief 'deeply concerned' over Myanmar violence

YANGON - Former UN chief Kofi Annan has expressed "deep concern" over violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state where the military killed dozens of people over the weekend, sending hundreds of Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh.

An armed policeman guards a road during a visit of former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, at the Aung Mingalar displacement camp for the minority Muslim Rohingya, in Sittwe, in September 2016

The military has locked down a strip of land along the border, an area largely home to the oppressed Muslim minority, since deadly raids on police posts last month.

The army says troops have killed nearly 70 people as they hunt the attackers, who they say are radicalised Rohingya militants with links to overseas Islamists.

Activists say the toll could be much higher, accusing troops of shooting unarmed civilians, raping women and torching homes, but the army has stopped independent observers from investigating the claims.

Annan called for an end to the bloodshed in a statement released as seven members of a commission he heads on Rakhine held talks with local officials in state capital Sittwe.

"I wish to express my deep concern over the recent violence in northern Rakhine State, which is plunging the state into renewed instability and creating new displacement," he said in a statement late Tuesday.

"All communities must renounce violence and I urge the security services to act in full compliance with the rule of law."

On Wednesday the commission members will head to villages hit by the unrest.

The US is also "concerned by reports of a spike in violence" in Rakhine, US State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said in Washington, urging the government to allow a "credible and independent investigation".

Days of apparent calm were shattered over the weekend when troops killed more than 30 people in two days of fighting that saw the military bring in helicopter gunships for the first time.

The surge in fighting sent around 200 Rohingya fleeing to the Bangladesh border, according to community leaders, who said they have been left stranded after border guards pushed them back.

One commander said the group, which arrived on Monday, was the largest number of Rohingya pushed back since violence erupted in Rakhine in early October.

Some 15,000 people have been displaced by the unrest and 150,000 from the deeply impoverished area have been without humanitarian aid for more than a month, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The resurgence of violence in Rakhine has deepened a crisis that has already threatened to derail to the new administration led by democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.

The democracy champion appointed fellow Nobel laureate Annan to oversee a commission charged with finding ways to heal wounds in the poor western state.

Rakhine has sizzled with religious tension ever since waves of violence between the majority Buddhist population and the Muslim Rohingya left more than 100 dead in 2012.

 

[Boss Dragun]

Why hadn't WEST invade Myanmar yet on Human rights violations.. I think they are more serious than Libyan and Syrian problems...

they won't invade a newborn democracy like Myanmar right away. it's worth noted that Myanmar can be a potential US ally depending on how the US policy towards them. they won't do anything if it's not profitable for them.

besides, i don't think this is moslem problem. rivalry between Rohingya and Myanmarese existed for decades. these two different races has always been at odds with each other. but now, since the Rohingyans were the ones at trouble, they're playing the moslem card. makes you think that the moslem ummah were being used as tools for them, eh?

 

[Species]

U.S. voices concern to Myanmar about reported rapes of Rohingya women

The U.S. State Department said on Friday that it had voiced concern to Myanmar's foreign ministry about the reported rape of Rohingya Muslim women by soldiers during a recent upsurge in violence against the persecuted minority.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a briefing that the United States wanted Myanmar to investigate the reported rapes and hold those responsible accountable.

Toner said earlier that the United States had raised the issue with the Myanmar foreign minister, but the State Department later issued a transcript of the briefing saying it had brought the issue up with "the foreign ministry," not the foreign minister.

Eight Rohingya women, all from U Shey Kya village in Rakhine State, described how soldiers last week raided their homes, looted property and raped them at gun point.

Reuters interviewed three of the women in person and five by telephone, and spoke with human rights groups and community leaders. Not all the claims could be independently verified, including a total number of women assaulted.

Zaw Htay, a spokesman for Myanmar President Htin Kyaw, denied the allegations. The military did not respond to an emailed request for comment about the accusations.