Burma: Rohingya Describe Military Atrocities Military’s ‘Unfinished Business’ Has Hallmarks of ‘Ethnic Cleansing’
Ethnic Rohingya
Muslims fleeing Burmese security forces in Burma’s Rakhine State have described
killings, shelling, and arson in their villages that have all the hallmarks of
a campaign of “ethnic cleansing,” Human Rights Watch said today. Burmese army, police,
and ethnic Rakhine armed groups have carried out operations against
predominantly Rohingya villages since the August 25, 2017 attacks by Arakan
Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) militants against about 30 police posts and an
army base. Burmese army commander Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing told the media that
the government-approved military clearance operations in Rakhine State
was “unfinished business” dating back to the Second World
War.
The United Nations
Security Council should hold a public emergency meeting and warn the Burmese
authorities that they will face severe sanctions unless they put an end to the
brutal campaign against the Rohingya population. “Rohingya refugees have harrowing accounts of
fleeing Burmese army attacks and watching their villages be destroyed,”
said Meenakshi
Ganguly, South Asia director. “Lawful operations against armed groups do
not involve burning the local population out of their homes.” In early September,
Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 50 Rohingya refugees who had fled
across the border to Bangladesh and obtained detailed accounts from about a
dozen people. The Rohingya told Human Rights Watch that Burmese government
security forces had carried out armed attacks on villagers, inflicting bullet
and shrapnel injuries, and burned down their homes. They described the
military’s use of small arms, mortars, and armed helicopters in the attacks.
Human Rights Watch obtained satellite data
and images that are consistent with widespread
burnings in northern Rakhine State, encompassing the townships of
Rathedaung, Buthidaung, and Maungdaw. To date, Human Rights Watch has found 21
unique locations where heat sensing technology on satellites identified
significant, large fires. Knowledgeable sources in Bangladesh told Human Rights
Watch that they heard the distinctive sounds of heavy and light machine gun
fire and mortar shelling in villages just across the border in Burma, and
spotted smoke arising from these villages shortly afterward... read more:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/09/08/burma-rohingya-describe-military-atrocities