Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims are being 'systematically' killed in Burma, Amnesty International warns

Refugees on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border over the weekend
Redux/eyevine
Ella Wills18 October 2017

Hundreds of men, women and children were killed during a systematic campaign to expel Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, condemned as 'ethnic cleansing', a report has warned.

The report published by Amnesty International on Wednesday comes after up to 15,000 Rohingya were stranded on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border over the weekend.

The humanitarian organisation has called for an arms embargo on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, and criminal prosecution of the perpetrators.

More than 580,000 refugees have arrived in Bangladesh since August 25, when Myanmar security forces began a scorched-earth crackdown against Rohingya villages.

Up to 15,000 refugees fleeing from the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar (Redux / eyevine)
Redux/eyevine

Myanmar's government has said it was responding to attacks by Muslim insurgents, but the UN and others have said the response was disproportionate.

The continuing flight of Rohingya Muslims has become a major humanitarian crisis and sparked international condemnation of Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which still denies atrocities are taking place.

Based on interviews with more than 120 fleeing Rohingya, Amnesty International said "at least" hundreds of people were killed by security forces who surrounded villages, shot fleeing inhabitants and then set buildings alight, burning to death the elderly, sick and disabled who were unable to flee.

In some villages, women and girls were raped or subjected to other sexual violence, according to the report.

Stranded: Rohingya were waiting for access to dry land in rice paddies near Palangkhali wtih driving tropical rain coming at night (Redux / eyevine)
Redux/eyevine

The witnesses repeatedly described a badge on their attackers' uniforms that matched one worn by troops from Myanmar's Western Command, Amnesty International said.

When shown various insignia used by Myanmar's army, witnesses consistently picked out the Western Command patch, it said.

The 33rd Light Infantry Division and border police, who wear a distinctive blue camouflage uniform, were also frequently involved in attacks on villages, along with Buddhist vigilante mobs, witnesses said.

Children and elderly people were among those in the mass exodus of Burma (Redux / eyevine)
Redux/eyevine

Matthew Wells, an Amnesty crisis researcher who spent several weeks at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, said hundreds of Rohingya have been treated for gunshot wounds and doctors say that the injuries are consistent with people being shot from behind as they fled.

Several hundred people were said to have been killed in the five villages that Amnesty reported on. Given that dozens of villages across Rakhin state were targeted in a similar fashion, Mr Wells said the death toll could be much higher.

He said satellite imagery, corroborated by witness accounts, show that Rohingya homes and mosques have been burned entirely in villages, while non-Rohingya areas just one or two hundred yards away were untouched.

Satellite image from Human Rights Watch shows what they say is the complete destruction of a Rohingya village in close proximity to an intact Rakhine village, Maungdaw township, Myanmar.
AP

"It speaks to how organized, how seemingly well-planned this scorched-earth campaign has been by the Myanmar military and how determined the effort has been to drive the Rohingya population out of the country," Mr Wells said.

Among almost two dozen recommendations, the human rights group called for the UN Security Council to impose acomprehensive arms embargo on Myanmar and financial sanctions against senior officials responsible for violations that Amnesty says meet the criteria for crimes against humanity.

It said the council should explore options for bringing the perpetrators to justice under international law if Myanmar authorities do not act swiftly.

Amnesty said: "It is time for the international community to move beyond public outcry and take action to end the campaign of violence that has driven more than half the Rohingya population out of Myanmar."

A new wave of refugees started crossing the border over the weekend. Witnesses said that they were stopped by Bangladeshi border guards and spent the night in muddy rice fields.

On August 25, a Rohingya insurgent group known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacked at least 30 security posts, causing dozens of casualties, according to Myanmar authorities. The brutal attacks against Rohingya that followed were described by the UN as "textbook ethnic cleansing."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT