Myanmar villages burn as Rakhine unrest rages
OIC urges UNSC to address Rohingya issue
AFP
Smoke billowed from at least three burning villages in the remote section of Rakhine state where Myanmars military is carrying out sweeps for militants, an AFP reporter saw Wednesday, reports AFP from Myanmar.
The violence, which erupted six days ago after Rohingya militants staged surprise raids on police posts, has shown little sign of abating, leaving at least 110 confirmed dead and sending thousands fleeing.
The displaced include ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority, thousands of whom have massed at the zero line border with Bangladesh which they are barred from crossing.
The bodies of two Rohingya women and two children washed up on Bangladeshi soil on Wednesday, an official there told AFP, as villagers took to rickety boats or tried to swim across a frontier river.
On Wednesday villagers in Rakhine continued to flee their homes.
A Rohingya villager near the town of Maungdaw, speaking on condition of anonymity, said residents fled his hamlet as security forces approached and torched their homes.
Villagers are running away... where do we have to live now? he told AFP by telephone.
It was not immediately possible to verify his account but Rohingya who have made it into Bangladesh have brought similar testimony with them.
Large fires were visible early Wednesday from the May Yu river that cuts through the area worst hit by unrest, according to an AFP reporter travelling by boat on a Myanmar government-led trip to Maungdaw.
Outlying villages have witnessed some of the worst violence, raising fears security operations are shielded from scrutiny by the danger and inaccessibility of the area.
Rohingya villagers are stuck between police and troops hunting down the insurgents and militants offering sporadic resistance.
But testimony gathered by AFP from the displaced reaching Bangladesh suggests some Rohinyga men are heeding a call-to-arms by the militants and are staying behind to fight in their villages.
The Arakan Rohingya Solidarity Army claims its men launched Fridays surprise attacks on police posts, killing 11 state officials, with knives, homemade explosives and a few guns.
After years in which the Rohingya largely avoided violence, the group last October carried out deadly attacks on police posts.
That prompted a months-long security crackdown by Myanmars army which left scores dead and forced 87,000 people to flee to Bangladesh.
The UN believes that military crackdown may have amounted to ethnic cleansing ofthe Rohingya -- allegations denied by the army.
On Sunday Pope Francis led mounting international calls for the protection of our
Rohingya brothers. The UN has also urged Myanmar to protect civilians during its operations and called on Bangladesh to allow the displaced into their territory -- something Dhaka is loath to do given it already hosts 400,000 displaced Rohingya.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called upon the United Nations to continue exerting pressure on Myanmar to end the violence against Rohingyas and restore their basic rights, reports UNB.
OIC Secretary General Dr Yousef A Al-Othaimeen has written separate letters to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and State Counsellor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi on the renewed outbreak of violence affecting the Rohingya Muslim community in Rakhine State, Myanmar.
He also expressed the hope that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) could urgently and effectively address the issue, according to a message UNB received from the OIC. The OIC chief referred to the indiscriminate use of force against the civilian populations in Rakhine, which has led to a miserable situation affecting a huge number of civilians across the region.
The Secretary General expressed the OICs concern also to the State Counsellor of Myanmar over the situation in Rakhine State and called upon the authorities to immediately cease the violence, restore the displaced persons to their homes and allow humanitarian aid agencies to assist the affected people.
He noted that the current crisis has the potential of destabilising the entire region unless the core issues of inequality, justice and citizenship are resolved.
The OIC condemned the indiscriminate use of military force, including heavy artillery, on civilian populations, which has displaced more than 20,000 Rohingya across the region.
The OIC called upon the Myanmar government to immediately restore the displaced persons to their homes and allow humanitarian aid agencies to assist the affected people.
It said the government of Myanmar must enforce the rule of law and work to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The OIC noted that the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, Chaired by Kofi Annan clearly indicated that greater efforts are needed by the government to prevent violence, maintain peace, foster reconciliation and offer a sense of hope to the long suffering Rohingya population.
The Secretary General called upon the United Nations Security Council to address the issue.
The OIC called upon its member states to abide by resolutions adopted in the Emergency Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Kuala Lumpur on January 19, 2017 and those adopted by the 44th Session of the Council of Foreign Minsters in Abidjan, Cote DIvoire on 11 July 2017.
The OIC expressed support for the recent statements issued by OIC Member States, which highlighted concern over the violence and the deteriorating humanitarian situation facing the Rohingya and emphasizes that it is a charter obligation to safeguard the rights, dignity and religious and cultural identity of Muslim communities and minorities in non-Member-states.
