http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/17/asia/myanmar-rohingya-aung-san-suu-kyi/index.html#
Myanmar's democracy icon on her nation's persecuted minority01:42
Is The Lady listening? Aung San Suu Kyi accused of ignoring Myanmar's Muslims
By James Griffiths, CNN
Updated 0009 GMT (0809 HKT) November 18, 2016
(CNN) Women wail in the background as the camera pans across the scene.
"Oh brothers, look at this, look," the narrator says, as he films the remnants of a burned house, bodies clearly visible sticking out of the mud and ash.
The disturbing
video is one of a handful that have emerged from northern Rakhine State, in Myanmar, where human rights groups warn of
widespread human rights abuses.
Hundreds of homes have been destroyed in multiple villages amid an ongoing crackdown by the Burmese military following
violence last month,
according to Human Rights Watch.
Burmese authorities claim the fires were set by local militant groups, and have disputed HRW's account.
Authorities in neighboring Bangladesh said dozens of people have attempted to flee across the border in recent days.
Satellite images show destruction of Kyet Yoe Pyin village
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Violence and silence
The most recent spate of violence began in early October, when soldiers and police officers were killed by a group of 300 or so armed men,
according to state media reports.
That sparked an intense crackdown by the Burmese military in which
dozens of people have been killed and at least 230 arrested. Rights groups estimate the total death toll could be in the hundreds.
Rakhine State is home to a large population of Rohingya Muslims, a stateless ethnic minority that has
faced discrimination and persecution for years. The Myanmar government's official position denies recognition of the term "Rohingya" and regards them as illegal Bengali migrants.
Throughout, many have looked to Myanmar's civilian government, and particularly Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, to act as a check on the military.
The National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Suu Kyi, won a landslide victory in elections late last year,
ending more than two decades of brutal military rule.
However, under a constitution drafted by the former junta, the military retains 25% of the seats in parliament, and control of security matters.
The Myanmar Armed Forces, or Tatmadaw, is led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who was handpicked by former junta strongman Than Shwe to succeed him in 2011.
While analysts did not dispute that the military is leading operations in Rakhine, they expressed disappointment with the government's lack of action.
"That the government has simply flatly denied human rights violations are taking place does not bode well for the NLD," said Matthew Smith, founder of Bangkok-based
Fortify Rights.
"When these types of violations are being committed by the government it is reason for concern for everyone in the country."
Risk of instability
As violence in Rakhine has persisted, Kofi Annan -- the former United Nations secretary general who currently leads a Myanmar government commission --
warned it is "plunging the state into renewed instability."
United Nations envoy Zainab Hawa Bangura has also expressed grave concern over allegations of rape and sexual assault of women and girls in Rakhine as part of a "wider pattern of ethnically motivated violence" in the region.
In a
statement this week, the Myanmar President's office, citing military information teams, "refuted the fabrications" published by foreign media and
blamed violence on terrorist groups.
Presidential spokesman Zaw Htay, who previously served the country's military rulers, denied reports of troops burning houses and allegations of rape and sexual assault
during a press conference Wednesday.
He promised that the government would "cooperate with the media for sensitive conflict reports in the future."
Human Rights Watch has
repeatedly criticized the Burmese government's denial of access to the region for human rights monitors and journalists.
CNN has repeatedly reached out to Suu Kyi's office for comment but hasn't received a response.
Disappointment
In an interview with CNN in September, Suu Kyi said her government was having "a lot of trouble trying to bring about the kind of harmony and understanding and tolerance that we wish for."
"This is not the only problem we have to face, (but) this is one on which the international community has focused," Suu Kyi said, pointing to the establishment of Annan's commission and the lifting on some restrictions on the movement of Rohingya as actions her administration has taken.
Nevertheless, at times Suu Kyi's silence on the issue has been deafening. Smith described the current response as "deeply concerning."
"I don't have words to describe the disappointment with her government," he said.
While he was skeptical over how much power the civilian government had to influence military activity in Rakhine state, Anthony Ware, a Myanmar specialist at Australia's Deakin University, said Suu Kyi's silence was a "long term consistent trend."
"We have not seen a lot of leadership on this issue from (Suu Kyi or the NLD)," he said.
With the military in full control of security issues, and backed up by its 25% base in parliament, its unclear how much effect a more vocal NLD government could have.
There is also strong support among the country's Buddhist majority for anti-Rohingya actions and angry anti-Muslim rhetoric has
increasingly become part of mainstream discourse in Myanmar, led by ultra-nationalist Buddhist monks.
"Muslims are perceived nationally, even by most of the ethnic minorities, as a threat to Buddhism and threat to national security," Ware said.
Military abuses
Before and after the country's transition to democracy, the Burmese military has been accused of torture, rape, and the systematic abuse of child soldiers.
Rights groups have
documented continued widespread abuses against ethnic minorities,
particularly in Rakhine and Kachin states.
"All of the key issues in Rakhine State and activities are under military control," said Ware.
"While there are armed elements in Rakhine, and while there are significant fears of a loss of control of the border and potential international Islamic terrorist influence, the military will not allow anyone else to have much of a say."
Smith said the military is carrying out a "clearance operation" against Muslims in the region, and warned that international crimes may be being committed.
"We've documented how Rakhine State authorities were talking about a plan to demolish Muslim-owned properties prior to the October attacks. It would appear that strategy is in some ways being carried out in another context," he said.
CNN's Bex Wright, Vivian Kam and Joshua Berlinger contributed reporting.
The Rohingya are fighting back?
NINE police officers were killed early on October 9th in a series of apparently co-ordinated attacks on border-guard posts in the troubled state of Rakhine in Myanmar’s west. The attackers were armed with knives, slingshots and only a few guns—and reportedly made off with dozens more guns and thousands of bullets. The Buddhist majority in Rakhine has long oppressed the state’s Muslim Rohingyas. Now the victims may be starting to fight back.
Nobody has yet claimed responsibility, but police say the attackers—at least two of whom were captured and eight killed—were Rohingyas. One local official blamed the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation, a militant group that has been dormant for decades. The two who were detained reportedly told authorities that they planned the raids with fellow locals.
The central government’s response has been reasonably level-headed. On the same day it held a press conference to appeal for caution and restraint. Two days later it dispatched high-ranking officials to talk to local leaders in the Muslim-majority townships where the attacks took place. Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s de facto leader, did not cast blame, but reiterated her commitment to “peace and stability”. “Rakhine State’s problem is Myanmar’s problem,” said the information minister.
Since the attacks in northern Rakhine, however, clashes have broken out there leaving at least a dozen people dead—including unarmed civilians, according to locals. The government has beefed up an already heavy military presence. Some worry that the stolen guns will be used in future attacks on security forces, or that in trying to retrieve the weapons, the police will target innocents.
By far the biggest concern is that unrest could spread, as it did in 2012, when communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims killed scores and displaced tens of thousands. Many outside Myanmar have criticised Miss Suu Kyi for failing to speak up for the Rohingyas. Anti-Muslim sentiment runs deep among the Burman Buddhist majority. Wirathu, a virulently nationalist monk and master of social media, posted a video on his Facebook page this week that he claims shows the attackers calling for Rohingyas to join the
jihad.
In August Miss Suu Kyi invited Kofi Annan, a former UN secretary-general, to head a commission investigating human-rights abuses in Rakhine. Buddhist nationalists protested, and the Rakhine parliament passed a resolution condemning the commission. But as this week’s events have shown, efforts to bring about a just and durable peace in Rakhine are more urgent than ever.
This article appeared in the Print Edition with the headline:
Sparks near tinder
From the print edition: Asia
The Economist
UN calls for probe into Myanmar crackdown on Rohingyas
AFP. Yangon | Update: 18:32, Oct 25, 2016
The United Nations has called for a probe into allegations that Myanmar troops have killed civilians and torched villages in northern Rakhine state, as fresh reports emerged of forced evictions in a security crackdown.
Aid agencies estimate more than 15,000 people have been displaced since the military took control of an area close to the Bangladesh border two weeks ago, a region which is home to the stateless Rohingya minority.
Myanmar’s government says hundreds of Rohingya fighters led by a Taliban-trained jihadist were behind deadly raids on several police posts on 9 October that sparked a major security response.
Since then the military has stopped aid deliveries to tens of thousands of people in northern Rakhine and blocked access to rights groups and journalists.
Most of the people in the locked-down area are Rohingya—a Muslim minority reviled by many in Myanmar as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
In a statement released late Monday, the UN urged Myanmar’s government “to undertake proper and thorough investigations of alleged violations”.
“Reports of homes and mosques being burnt down and persons of a certain profile being rounded up and shot are alarming and unacceptable,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on summary executions Agnes Callamard.
“The authorities cannot justify simply shooting suspects down on the basis of the seriousness of the crime alone,” she said, referring to the assaults on border guards that sparked the clampdown.
While details of military abuses are hard to verify, the UN said it has received “repeated allegations” of arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings “within the context of the security operations”.
The violence has fanned fears of a repeat of the unrest that ravaged the state in 2012 and left more than 100 people dead.
Security forces have killed at least 31 people while defending themselves from attacks, according to a toll from state media and the military.
But Chris Lewa, from advocacy group the Arakan Project, says information from contacts in the area suggests the number killed is much higher.
Residents also say the crackdown, which has been led by the military but also includes border guard police forces, is intensifying.
Over the past two days, border officials have driven thousands of Rohingya from their homes in Kyikanpyin village, according to Maung Ni, a 32-year-old Rohingya shopkeeper.
“We are staying at another village,” he told AFP. “We do not know what to do—soldiers are still stationed inside the village.”
Police sources, who asked not to be named, confirmed troops had searched the area for “terrorists” and some villagers had fled when they arrived.
Malala Speaks Out In Support Of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims
06/08/2015 03:58 pm ET
Carol Kuruvilla Associate Religion Editor
Malala Yousafzai is calling on world leaders and officials in Myanmar to stop the persecution of the country’s Rohingya Muslims.
“The Rohingyas deserve citizenship in the country where they were born and have lived for generations. They deserve equal rights and opportunities,” the 17-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said in a statement. “They deserve to be treated like we all deserve to be treated -– with dignity and respect.”
Stripped of citizenship and subject to violence and discrimination, the Rohingya Muslims have been fleeing Myanmar in recent months. Thousands of migrants have been rescued off the coasts of neighboring countries
after escaping by boat.
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has
denied that the Rohingya are being persecuted in the majority Buddhist country.
However, multiple international human rights groups, like
Amnesty International and
Human Rights Watch, have spoken out against the persecution of the Rohingya. The United Nations refugee agency has called them
one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.
Yousafzai is an education campaigner and girls’ rights activist. She co-founded the
Malala Fund after she was shot by the Taliban in 2012 for her progressive ideas. The organization has supported girls in Pakistan, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. Yousafzai became interested in the plight of refugees while working to secure access to education for
Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon.
“Today and every day, I stand with the Rohingyas,” Yousafzai said in the statement. “And I encourage people everywhere to do so.”
