Another 10,000 poised to enter Bangladesh

Foreign envoys in Myanmar say villages burned to ground

Rohingya exodus swells again

Ambassadors of 20 mostly western countries based in Myanmar in a joint statement has said they saw Rohingya villages were burned to the ground with residents fleeing elsewhere while visiting the Rakhine state, the scene of the violent military crackdown, reports BSS. "We saw villages which had been burned to the ground and emptied of inhabitants . . . The violence must stop," the envoys said after their visit to the region under a government-sponsored tour on Monday.

The envoys said "we saw on our visit the dire humanitarian need" and "we call once more for unimpeded humanitarian access to northern Rakhine and resumption of life-saving services without discrimination throughout the state". The foreign envoys tour and subsequent statement came five weeks after the army clampdown to flush out alleged terrorists from the region sparked one of the world's worst exoduses with the ethnic minority people fleeing their homes to escape atrocities.

"The security forces have an obligation to protect all people in Rakhine without discrimination and to take measures to prevent acts of arson," the statement read. It added: "We have stressed to the Union and State Government (of Myanmar) and to local authorities in Rakhine that the people we saw during this visit must not be subject to, and should be protected from, any reprisals, such as physical attacks or arbitrary arrest."

The statement said "investigation of allegations of human rights violations needs to be carried out by experts" since the envoys visit "was not an investigation mission and could not be in the circumstances". The diplomats urged them to allow the UN Fact-Finding Mission to visit Rakhine. The envoys, however, also reiterated "our condemnation of the ARSA attacks of 25 August and our deep concern about violence and mass displacement since". Myanmar authorities arranged the envoys tour to Northern Rakhine amid escalated global outrage over the treatment of Rohingyas forcing so far over 500,000 of them to cross into Bangladesh to take makeshift refuge.

The envoys represented the United States, the European Union, Britain, Germany, France, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, the   

 

Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Spain, Sweden and Finland. Indonesian ambassador was the lone non-western foreign envoy included in the delegation for the tour while the statement said the diplomats visited a number of villages in Maungdaw and Rathedaung districts and met a mixture of local communities in Northern Rakhine.

Meanwhile, more than 10,000 Muslim Rohingya have massed in Myanmar near a crossing point into Bangladesh, Myanmar media said yesterday, apparently poised to join an exodus across the border due to food shortages and fear of attacks in their mainly Buddhist homeland, reports AFP from Cox’s Bazar.

Over 500,000 Rohingya have streamed into Bangladesh in just the past five weeks, and numbers are again swelling, raising doubt about the practicality of a Myanmar proposal to begin repatriating them.

Myanmar’s northern state of Rakhine has been emptied of half of its Rohingya population in weeks.

More are on the move as insecurity presses them to leave those villages which have so far been spared the worst of the violence that ripped through the state.

Attacks by Rohingya militants on August 25 spurred a ferocious Myanmar army crackdown that the UN says amounted to “ethnic cleansing”.

Over 10,000 “Muslims” have arrived “between Letphwekya and Kwunthpin village to emigrate to the neighbouring country”, the state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Tuesday.

Myanmar’s government refuses to recognise the Rohingya as a distinct ethnic group, instead calling them “Muslims” or “Bengalis”—code for illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

Authorities have tried to reassure fleeing Rohingya that they are now safe in Rakhine, the report added, but they want to leave “of their own accord”.

Violence appears to have ebbed in northern Rakhine, although independent reporting is still prevented by an army lockdown.

But fear has unsettled many of the Rohingya who remain, threatened by Myanmar’s army and their hostile ethnic Rakhine neighbours and cut off from aid agencies.

After a brief lull in arrivals, the Bangladesh Border Guard says 4-5,000 Rohingya are now crossing each day. “They don’t want to stay (in Myanmar). They want to come here... they are being told to leave,” Lieutenant-Colonel S.M Ariful Islam told AFP. Food is also running out, with villagers too fearful to tend to their crops in case they are attacked by their neighbours.

“In some villages they are scared to pass by Rakhine villages,” Chris Lewa, from Rohingya advocacy group the Arakan Project, told AFP. Myanmar denies most Rohingya citizenship and the public in the Buddhist-majority nation does not want them back. Myanmar’s army has branded them illegal immigrants intent on imposing Islam via the country’s western gateway.

On Monday Myanmar’s Minister of the Office of State Counselor, Kyaw Tint Swe, told Bangladesh his country was ready to accept refugees subject to a verification process agreed in the early 1990s by the neighbours.

The minister’s offer applies only to those who fled in the past year, according to a Bangladeshi official—excluding some 300,000 Rohingya who fled earlier.

And refugees and rights groups say the verification which Myanmar wants will leave huge numbers in the squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh, since it relies on documentation which most Rohingya do not have.

The refugees are also deeply fearful of what awaits back in Myanmar, with many recounting stories of rape and mass murder at the hands of the army while their villages have been destroyed.

Relief agencies Tuesday were fighting to contain a diarrhoea outbreak around hugely overcrowded camps in Bangladesh. A 20-bed clinic was opened at Kutupalong camp Monday for diarrhoea victims and another 60-bed facility will be set up this week.

“We have seen an increasing trend of diarrhoeal disease cases, including cases of diarrhoea with severe dehydration,” said United Nations refugee agency spokesman Andrej Mahecic. The UN said it would seek $430 million to increase operations in the camps.

Inside Rakhine, already one of Myanmar’s poorest states, conditions are worsening for those left behind. UN officials toured a conflict-hit portion of the state on Monday, noting the “unimaginable” scale of suffering and urging humanitarian access. An EU delegation accompanying them on the government-steered day trip urged an end to the violence after seeing “villages burned to the ground and emptied of inhabitants”.

 

Another 10,000 poised to enter Bangladesh

Foreign envoys in Myanmar say villages burned to ground

Rohingya exodus swells again

Ambassadors of 20 mostly western countries based in Myanmar in a joint statement has said they saw Rohingya villages were burned to the ground with residents fleeing elsewhere while visiting the Rakhine state, the scene of the violent military crackdown, reports BSS. We saw villages which had been burned to the ground and emptied of inhabitants . . . The violence must stop, the envoys said after their visit to the region under a government-sponsored tour on Monday. The envoys said we saw on our visit the dire humanitarian need and we call once more for unimpeded humanitarian access to northern Rakhine and resumption of life-saving services without discrimination throughout the state. The foreign envoys tour and subsequent statement came five weeks after the army clampdown to flush out alleged terrorists from the region sparked one of the worlds worst exoduses with the ethnic minority people fleeing their homes to escape atrocities. The security forces have an obligation to protect all people in Rakhine without discrimination and to take measures to prevent acts of arson, the statement read. It added: We have stressed to the Union and State Government (of Myanmar) and to local authorities in Rakhine that the people we saw during this visit must not be subject to, and should be protected from, any reprisals, such as physical attacks or arbitrary arrest. The statement said investigation of allegations of human rights violations needs to be carried out by experts since the envoys visit was not an investigation mission and could not be in the circumstances. The diplomats urged them to allow the UN Fact-Finding Mission to visit Rakhine. The envoys, however, also reiterated our condemnation of the ARSA attacks of 25 August and our deep concern about violence and mass displacement since. Myanmar authorities arranged the envoys tour to Northern Rakhine amid escalated global outrage over the treatment of Rohingyas forcing so far over 500,000 of them to cross into Bangladesh to take makeshift refuge. The envoys represented the United States, the European Union, Britain, Germany, France, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Spain, Sweden and Finland. Indonesian ambassador was the lone non-western foreign envoy included in the delegation for the tour while the statement said the diplomats visited a number of villages in Maungdaw and Rathedaung districts and met a mixture of local communities in Northern Rakhine. Meanwhile, more than 10,000 Muslim Rohingya have massed in Myanmar near a crossing point into Bangladesh, Myanmar media said yesterday, apparently poised to join an exodus across the border due to food shortages and fear of attacks in their mainly Buddhist homeland, reports AFP from Coxs Bazar. Over 500,000 Rohingya have streamed into Bangladesh in just the past five weeks, and numbers are again swelling, raising doubt about the practicality of a Myanmar proposal to begin repatriating them. Myanmars northern state of Rakhine has been emptied of half of its Rohingya population in weeks. More are on the move as insecurity presses them to leave those villages which have so far been spared the worst of the violence that ripped through the state. Attacks by Rohingya militants on August 25 spurred a ferocious Myanmar army crackdown that the UN says amounted to ethnic cleansing. Over 10,000 Muslims have arrived between Letphwekya and Kwunthpin village to emigrate to the neighbouring country, the state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Tuesday. Myanmars government refuses to recognise the Rohingya as a distinct ethnic group, instead calling them Muslims or Bengaliscode for illegal migrants from Bangladesh. Authorities have tried to reassure fleeing Rohingya that they are now safe in Rakhine, the report added, but they want to leave of their own accord. Violence appears to have ebbed in northern Rakhine, although independent reporting is still prevented by an army lockdown. But fear has unsettled many of the Rohingya who remain, threatened by Myanmars army and their hostile ethnic Rakhine neighbours and cut off from aid agencies. After a brief lull in arrivals, the Bangladesh Border Guard says 4-5,000 Rohingya are now crossing each day. They dont want to stay (in Myanmar). They want to come here... they are being told to leave, Lieutenant-Colonel S.M Ariful Islam told AFP. Food is also running out, with villagers too fearful to tend to their crops in case they are attacked by their neighbours. In some villages they are scared to pass by Rakhine villages, Chris Lewa, from Rohingya advocacy group the Arakan Project, told AFP. Myanmar denies most Rohingya citizenship and the public in the Buddhist-majority nation does not want them back. Myanmars army has branded them illegal immigrants intent on imposing Islam via the countrys western gateway. On Monday Myanmars Minister of the Office of State Counselor, Kyaw Tint Swe, told Bangladesh his country was ready to accept refugees subject to a verification process agreed in the early 1990s by the neighbours. The ministers offer applies only to those who fled in the past year, according to a Bangladeshi officialexcluding some 300,000 Rohingya who fled earlier. And refugees and rights groups say the verification which Myanmar wants will leave huge numbers in the squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh, since it relies on documentation which most Rohingya do not have. The refugees are also deeply fearful of what awaits back in Myanmar, with many recounting stories of rape and mass murder at the hands of the army while their villages have been destroyed. Relief agencies Tuesday were fighting to contain a diarrhoea outbreak around hugely overcrowded camps in Bangladesh. A 20-bed clinic was opened at Kutupalong camp Monday for diarrhoea victims and another 60-bed facility will be set up this week. We have seen an increasing trend of diarrhoeal disease cases, including cases of diarrhoea with severe dehydration, said United Nations refugee agency spokesman Andrej Mahecic. The UN said it would seek $430 million to increase operations in the camps. Inside Rakhine, already one of Myanmars poorest states, conditions are worsening for those left behind. UN officials toured a conflict-hit portion of the state on Monday, noting the unimaginable scale of suffering and urging humanitarian access. An EU delegation accompanying them on the government-steered day trip urged an end to the violence after seeing villages burned to the ground and emptied of inhabitants.