2016 Rohingya persecution: Difference between revisions

The 2016 Rohingya persecution in Myanmar refers to the ongoing military crackdown by the Myanmar military forces on Rohingya Muslims in the country's western region of Rakhine State. The crackdown was in response to attacks on border police camps by unidentified insurgents and has resulted in wide-scale human rights violations at the hands of security forces, including extrajudicial killings, gang rapes, arsons, and other brutalities. The military crackdown on Rohingya people drew criticism from various quarters including the United Nations, human rights group Amnesty International, the US Department of State, and the government of Malaysia. The de facto head of government Aung San Suu Kyi has particularly been criticized for her inaction and silence over the issue and for not doing much to prevent military abuses.

Background

The Rohingya people in the northern Rakhine State of Myanmar is known as the world's most persecuted minority group.^[1][2][3] In modern times, persecution on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar dates back to 1970s.^[4] Since then, Rohingya people have regularly been made the target of persecution by the government and nationalist Buddhists.^[5] According to Myanmar state reports, on 9 October 2016, some armed persons in Rakhine state attacked several border police camps that left nine police personnel dead.^[6] Weapons and ammunitions were also looted. The major attack took place in Maungdaw town of the state. The real identity of the attackers remained unknown. In response to the attacks, the Myanmar security forces began major crackdowns on the Rohingya Muslims.

Crackdown

Following the police camp incidents, the Myanmar military began crackdown in the villages of northern Rakhine state. In the initial operation, dozens of people were killed and many were arrested.^[7] As the crackdown continued, the casualties increased. Arbitrary arrest, extrajudicial killings, gang rapes, brutality on civilians, and looting have been recorded.^[8][2] According to media reports, hundreds of Rohingya people have been killed so far, and around 20,000 to 30,000 Rohingyas have fled Myanmar as refugees, and have taken shelter in the nearby areas of Bangladesh, a neighboring country to Myanmar.^{[9][5][10][3][7]} In late November, Human Rights Watch released satellite images that showed around 1,250 Rohingya houses in five villages were burnt down by the security forces.^[3][8] The media and the human rights groups have frequently reported of intense human rights violations by the Myanmar military.^[7][8] During one incident in November, the Myanmar military used helicopter gunships to shoot and kill the civilians.^[10][5] Myanmar has so far not allowed the media persons and human rights groups to enter the persecuted areas.^[5] Consequently, the exact figures of civilian casualties remained unknown. The Rakhine State has been termed as 'information black hole'.^[8]

Those who fled Myanmar to escape persecution reported of gang rapes on women, killing of men, torching of houses, and throwing young children into burning houses.^[11][12][13] The boats carrying Rohingya refugees on Naf River were often gunned down by the Myanmar military.^[14]

In January 2017, at least four policemen were detained by government authorities after a video emerged online of security forces beating Rohingya Muslims in November 2016. In the video, Rohingya men and boys were forced to sit in rows with their hands behind their head, whilst they were beaten with batons and kicked. This was the first incident in which the government punished its own security forces in the region since the beginning of the crackdown.^[15][16]

Criticism

The military crackdown on Rohingya people drew criticism from various quarters. Human rights group such as Amnesty International and organisations such as the United Nations have labeled the military crackdown on the Rohingya minority as crimes against humanity and have said that the military had made the civilians a target of "a systematic campaign of violence".^{[10][17][18][1]}

In November, a senior United Nations official, John McKissick, accused Myanmar of conducting ethnic cleansing in the Rakhine state to free it from Muslim minority.^[5][19] John McKissick is the head of a UN refugee agency based in Bangladeshi town Cox's Bazar. Later that month, Bangladesh summoned the Myanmar envoy in its country to express 'tremendous concern' over the Rohingya persecution.^[20]

In December, the United Nations strongly criticized the Myanmar government for its poor treatment of the Rohingya people, and called its approach 'callous'.^[13][21] The United Nations also called on Aung San Suu Kyi, the State Counsellor of Myanmar (de facto head of government) and a Nobel laureate, to take steps to stop violence against the Rohingyas.^[2][12]

The US Department of State has also expressed concern about the violence in Rakhine State and the displacement of Rohingyas.^[5] In a protest rally in early December, Malaysia's prime minister Najib Razak criticized the Myanmar authority for military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, and described the ongoing persecution as "genocide".^[22][23] Earlier, terming the violence against Rohingya Muslim minority as "ethnic cleansing", Malaysia said 'the issue was of international concern'.^[19] Malaysia also canceled two football matches with Myanmar in protest of the crackdown.^[24][9]

Suu Kyi has particularly been criticized for her inaction and silence over the issue and for not doing much to prevent military abuses.^[7][5][1] She stated in response: "show me a country without human rights issues."^[2] The former head of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, after a week-long visit in the Rakhine state, expressed deep concern about reports of human rights violations in the area.^[25] He currently leads a nine-member commission which was formed in August 2016 to look into the situations in the state and to make recommendations to improve the situation there.^[25][1]

See also

• Persecution of Muslims in Myanmar
• 2015 Rohingya refugee crisis

References