HRW: government complicity in violence against the Rohingya Muslims
Yangon (AsiaNews /
Agencies) - The Burmese government forces stood by and watched as sectarian
violence flared in Rakhine State, west Myanmar, in June, without intervening. Moreover,
in the following days the military opened fire against the Rohingya Muslim
minority, intent on trying to save their homes from fires and devastation. New York based Human Rights Watch (HRW), has published a report based on over 60
interviews with the Buddhist majority and Muslim Rohingya minority in Arakan. Activists
call for a strong global response to the "atrocities" committed
during the clashes that have killed 78 people, and displaced about 100 thousand
people, mostly Muslims who have abandoned their native lands to seek refuge
abroad.
Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch says that the Burmese
government "has pledged" to "put an end to sectarian violence," but
"in reality, ... the facts show that State sponsored persecution and
discrimination continue. " He invites the world community to "not
close your eyes" in front of an "fictional about face" by Naypyidaw
authorities.
Violence against the Burmese Rohingya is a decades long problem, compounded by
the fact that the Myanmar
government considers the Muslim minority illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. However,
Dhaka has consistently denied them entry visas
and pursues a policy of forced repatriation of refugees. Just this week the Bangladesh
government ordered three international non-profit organizations - Doctors Without Borders and Action Against Hunger UK Muslim Aid - to cut off aid to the Rohingya
refugees who cross borders. For an official charity it "encourages the
flow of refugees."
In June, the Kyaukphyu District Court, Rakhine State of Myanmar, sentenced three
Muslims to death, held responsible for the rape and killing in late May of Thida
Htwe, a young Arakanese Buddhist, the source of bloody sectarian clashes
between Muslims and Buddhists (see AsiaNews 19/06/2012 Rakhine,
ethnic violence: three death sentences for the rape-murder of a woman). In the following days, an angry mob, killed 10 Muslims
who were travelling on a bus, completely unrelated to the murder.
The
spiral of hatred resulted in a guerrilla war that has killed 29 others,
including 16 Muslims and 13 Buddhists. According to official sources at least 2600 homes have
been burned. The violence has also triggered a veritable exodus of the Rohingya
Muslim minority, resulting in the displacement of hundreds of men, women and
children seeking refuge on the coasts of Bangladesh
and Thailand, but Bangkok and Dhaka are
pursuing the policy of rejecting the Burmese Muslim minority the status of
political refugees and exiles.
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