Burma: State Genocide Part Of Ethnic Cleansing – OpEd
The torturing and murdering of Muslims and insulting Islam and making it appear to be a terrorist religion is not new, but has been the phenomenon of the last century and is continuing into this century as well. That Islam alone remains a living religion with a strong message for the humanity has unnerved many who hate Islam.
Anti-Islamism and Islamophobia are now a global phenomena, terrorizing global Muslims. This trend has made life difficult for Muslims as governments refuse Muslims jobs, deny them salary, force them to quit the hard-earned jobs and deny them pensions, thereby denying the Muslims the right to exit, work and live with honor. . .
Muslims, unlike peoples of other religions, do not have atheir world leader, let aloneg national leaders, to guide them according to the Islamic life patterns.
The Rohingya is one category of the Muslim community in Burma in South East Asia that has no leader to guide and secure their lives and habitat and hence they are being targeted and killed by the regime and military.
The Rohingya, who numbered around one million in Myanmar at the start of the year, are one of the many ethnic minorities in the country. Rohingya Muslims represent the largest percentage of Muslims in Myanmar, with the majority living in Rakhine state.
They have their own language and culture and claim to be the descendants of Arab traders and other groups who have been in the region for generations. But the government of Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country, denies the Rohingya citizenship and even excluded them from the 2014 census, refusing to recognize them as a people.
State terror techniques have targeted the Muslim minority possibly because they don’t worship the Burmese god Buddha. Since the 1970s, the Rohingya have migrated across the region in significant numbers. In the last few years, before the latest crisis, thousands of Rohingya were making perilous journeys out of Myanmar to escape communal violence or alleged abuses by the security forces. Estimates of their numbers are often much higher than official figures.
The plight of Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar came to global light when more than 647,000 Rohingya fled into Bangladesh since August this year.
Based on surveys of refugees in Bangladesh conducted by Medecins Sans Frontieres, at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed in August after violence broke out in Myanmar in August. Medecins Sans Frontieres said it was “the clearest indication yet of the widespread violence” by Myanmar authorities. However, Myanmar’s official figure of genocides is less than 400. Previously, the armed forces stated that around 400 people had been killed; most of them described as ‘Muslim terrorists’.
Myanmar, like the Pentagon in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan etc, or Israel in Palestine or India in Kashmir, claims to be “innocent” and has denied any wrongdoing toward Muslim population and they leave Myanmar on their own though the regime and military assure of all necessary help to minorities. Further the Myanmar military blames the violence on “terrorists” without specifying who they are.
The plight of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people is said to be the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis. Risking death by sea or on foot, more than half a million people have fled the destruction of their homes and persecution in the northern Rakhine province of Myanmar (Burma) for neighbouring Bangladesh since August 2017.
Despite being an ethnic minority in Burma, Rohingya Muslims represent the largest percentage of Muslims in Myanmar, with the majority living in Rakhine state. They have their own language and culture. But the government of Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country, denies the Rohingya citizenship.
Refugee crisis
Most Rohingya refugees reaching Bangladesh — men, women and children with barely any belongings — have sought shelter in these areas, setting up camp wherever possible in the difficult terrain and with little access to aid, safe drinking water, food, shelter or healthcare.
Of the 537,000 refugees who have arrived since August 58% are are children, while 60% of the adults are women.
The largest refugee camp is Kutupalong, but limited space means spontaneous settlements have sprung up in the surrounding countryside and nearby Balukhali as refugees keep arriving. While the Kutupalong refugee camp has grown from 13,901 to 20,000 since August, the number living in makeshift or spontaneous settlements outside the camp has climbed from 99,495 to 311,225.
The aid group’s survey found that at least 9,000 Rohingya died in Myanmar, also known as Burma, between 25 August and 24 September. “In the most conservative estimations” at least 6,700 of those deaths have been caused by violence, including at least 730 children under the age of five, according to MSF.
The United Nations described the military offensive in Rakhine, which provoked the exodus, as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”. Myanmar’s military says it is fighting Rohingya militants and denies targeting civilians. The UN says the Rohingya’s situation is the “world’s fastest growing refugee crisis”. Before August, there were already around 307,500 Rohingya refugees living in camps, makeshift settlements and with host communities, according to the UNHCR.
Ethnic cleansing by state
Myanmar treats the Muslim community as if they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Since the 1970s, Rohingya Muslims, to escape persecution by the state, have migrated across the region in significant numbers. Estimates of their numbers are often much higher than official figures. In the last few years, before the latest crisis, thousands of Rohingya were making perilous journeys out of Myanmar to escape communal violence or alleged abuses by the security forces.
Since the 1970s, Rohingya have migrated across the region in significant numbers. Estimates of their numbers are often much higher than official figures. n the last few years, before the latest crisis, thousands of Rohingya were making perilous journeys out of Myanmar to escape communal violence or alleged abuses by the security forces.
The latest exodus began on August 25 after Rohingya Arsa militants attacked more than 30 police posts. Rohingyas arriving in an area known as Cox’s Bazaar – a district in Bangladesh – say they fled after troops, backed by local Buddhist mobs, responded by burning their villages and attacking and killing civilians.
At least 288 villages were partially or totally destroyed in northern Rakhine state after August 2017, according to analysis of satellite imagery by Human Rights Watch. The imagery shows many areas where Rohingya villages were reduced to smoldering rubble, while nearby ethnic Rakhine villages were left intact.
Amnesty International says the Myanmar military has killed hundreds of Rohingya and raped and abused Rohingya women and girls. The government claims that “clearance operations” against the militants ended on 5 September, but they indeed continued after that date.
Human Rights watch says most damage occurred in Maungdaw Township, between 25 August and 25 September – with many villages destroyed after 5 September, when Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, said security force operations had ended.
The UN says the Rohingya’s situation is the “world’s fastest growing refugee crisis”.
Before August, there were already around 307,500 Rohingya refugees living in camps, makeshift settlements and with host communities. according to the UNHCR. Most Rohingya refugees reaching Bangladesh – men, women and children with barely any belongings – have sought shelter in these areas, setting up camp wherever possible in the difficult terrain and with little access to aid, safe drinking water, food, shelter or healthcare. Of the 537,000 refugees who have arrived since August 58% are are children, while 60% of the adults are women.
The UN described the military offensive in Rakhine, which provoked the exodus, as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”. Myanmar’s military says it is fighting Rohingya militants and denies targeting civilians.
Need for aid
There has been widespread condemnation of the Myanmar government’s actions but talk of sanctions has been more muted: The UN Security Council appealed to Myanmar to stop the violence but no sanctions have been imposed The USA urged Myanmar’s troops to “respect the rule of law, stop the violence and end the displacement of civilians from all communities” China says the international community “should support the efforts of Myanmar in safeguarding the stability of its national development” Bangladesh plans to build more shelters in the Cox’s Bazar area but also wants to limit their travel to allocated areas
The need for aid is overwhelming with 720,000 children in need of humanitarian assistance, according to UNICEF $434m in funding needed for UN humanitarian response plans over the next six months 900,000 doses of cholera vaccine mobilized for immunization campaign.
The UK Disasters Emergency Committee launched an appeal for funds to help the refugees and their overstretched host communities. UK Prime Minister Theresa May also said the military action in Rakhine had to stop. The UK has suspended training courses for the Myanmar military.
