Buddhist villagers and security forces torched Rohingya homes before killing the owners
Bound together, the 10
Rohingya captives watched their Buddhist neighbours dig a grave. Soon
afterwards, on the morning of 2 September, all 10 lay dead. At least two were
hacked to death by Buddhist villagers. The rest were shot by soldiers, two of
the gravediggers said.
The killings marked
another episode in the violence sweeping Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State. The
Rohingya accuse the army of arson, rapes and killings. The United Nations has
said the army may have committed genocide. Myanmar says its “clearance operation”
is a legitimate response to attacks by insurgents.
Rohingya people
trace their presence in Rakhine back centuries. But most people in
majority-Buddhist Myanmar consider them to be unwanted Muslim immigrants from
Bangladesh. The army refers to the Rohingya as “Bengalis”, and most lack
citizenship. In recent years, the government has confined more than 100,000
Rohingya in camps where they have limited access to food, medicine and
education. Nearly 690,000 Rohingya have fled their villages and crossed the
border into Bangladesh since August…read more:
