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Suu Kyi must stop the ethnic cleansing in Arakan
By. Dr Habib Siddiqui
Myanmar’s government said that the October 9 raids were conducted by the Aqamul Mujahidin organization, which it described as being affiliated with an extremist group. On the other hand, a previously unknown group – Faith Movement – has released a press statement on October 15 in which it claimed itself as the sons of Arakan soil who were compelled by the dire situation that they faced to make their own destiny through uprising, self-determination in self-defense. “We stand as an independent body which is free from all elements of terror in any nature,” the press release stated “that seeks fundamental but legitimate rights and justice for all ARAKANESE including our innocent Rohingyas and OTHER civilians dying from the continuous military assaults.”
An outcome like this was only waiting to happen given that history has repeatedly shown that such prolonged encampment in IDP concentration camps create a sense of ultimate abandonment by the state, pushing even the most moderates to take violent means to redress their plight. The initial attacks, in which three border police outposts were overrun by hundreds of people, most only lightly armed, showed a degree of sophistication not seen before in violence involving the Rohingya, but did not suggest the group was especially well-funded or armed, diplomats said.
Myanmar’s military (Tatmadaw) has since been deployed in the Rohingya populated northern part of Arakan (Rakhine) state. And what we are witnessing there is simply shocking. War crimes are perpetrated. Under the pretext of finding the Rohingya perpetrators, the Tatmadaw has been doing what it has always done – using its criminal scorched-earth tactics. As a result, since the Oct. 9 attacks, at least 133 unarmed Rohingyas (mostly children and women) have been killed, or have died in custody. Over a hundred Rohingyas have been detained, several villages and more than a thousand homes and several mosques have been burned by the security forces forcing an internal displacement of at least 15,000 people, who are even denied humanitarian aid. Many of the local elders and Imams have also been killed extra-judicially after they were asked to report the local military camp.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned in a statement Friday that as troops poured into the region and authorities blocked off the delivery of humanitarian aid to Maungdaw, aid agencies have not been able to conduct a needs assessment. The statement quoted a World Food Program (WFP) partnerships officer as saying they had requested access “from township level to Union level”. WFP told HRW that 50,000 people remain without food aid in Maungdaw.
