“Rohingyas would be eliminated from Myanmar.”: A detailed emerging picture of Myanmar Genocidal Violence as extracted from the UNOCHR Flash Report

Source maungzarni, 7 Feb

"Rohingyas would be eliminated from Myanmar."

"Now is the worst it has ever been. We have heard from our grandparents that there were bad things happening in the past too, but never like this." 

- A Rohingya victim from Pwint Hpye Chaung

"(C)all your Allah to come and save you", "What can your Allah do for you? See what we can do?"

- A typical taunt by perpetrating Myanmar soldiers and officers while beating, torturing, raping and killing Rohingyas

THE POLICY AND STRATEGY

The "calculated policy of terror" that the Tatmadaw has implemented in nRS since 9 October cannot be seen as an isolated event. It must be read against the long-standing pattern of violations and abuses; systematic and systemic discrimination; and policies of exclusion and marginalization against the Rohingya that have been in place for decades in nRS, as described in the HC's report to the HRC (A/HRC/32/18). Even before 9 October, widespread discriminatory policies and/or practices targeting them on the basis of their ethnic and/or religious identity had led to an acute deprivation of fundamental rights. The information gathered by OHCHR indicates that the victims of killings, rape and sexual violence, arbitrary detention, torture, beatings and other violations outlined in this report, were targeted based on their belonging to a particular ethnicity and religion. Many victims mentioned that soldiers and officers taunted them by saying that Islam is not the religion of Myanmar; that Rohingyas are Muslim Bengalis; and that Rohingyas would be eliminated from Myanmar.

GENOCIDAL ACTS 

"The testimonies gathered by the team – the killing of babies, toddlers, children, women and elderly; opening fire at people fleeing; burning of entire villages; massive detention; massive and systematic rape and sexual violence; deliberate destruction of food and sources of food – speak volumes of the apparent disregard by Tatmadaw and BGP officers that operate in the lockdown zone for international human rights law, in particular the total disdain for the right to life of Rohingyas."

WHO ARE THE PERPETRATORS?

All of the eyewitness testimonies the team gathered referred to violations allegedly perpetrated by either the Myanmar security forces (Tatmadaw, Border Guard Police and/or the regular police force, operating both separately and through joint operations) or by Rakhine villagers (either acting jointly with security forces or at least with their acceptance). Worryingly, the team gathered several testimonies indicating that Rakhine villagers from the area have recently been given both weapons and uniforms, which bodes ill for the future relation and trust between the two communities.

What does a typical Myanmar Government's "area clearance operation" look like? 

"When the team analysed the 111 testimonies gathered from the most affected villages - Yae Khat Chaung Gwa Son, Kyet Yoe Pyin, Pwint Hpyu Chaung, Dar Gyi Zar and Wa Peik - a clear picture emerges of how the Myanmar security forces' so called "area clearance operations" are conducted, as well as of the violations they generate:

Interviewees from these villages, as can be seen also in previous chapters, typically reported that large numbers of armed men (often from both the Tatmadaw and the police, sometimes accompanied by Rakhine villagers) would arrive at once in the village. As is confirmed by satellite imagery analysis, they would proceed to destroy many houses, mosques, schools and shops, typically by RPGs (that interviewees call "launchers") but also by simply using petrol and matches as detailed above. Fields, livestock, food stocks would also be deliberately burned, destroyed or looted.

They would separate the women from the men. Men who did not manage to flee would be severely beaten, often with their hands tied to their back, often with rifle butts or bamboo sticks, or kicked with boots. Many men, especially those in a specific age range (teenage to middle age) would also be taken away, with their hands still tied, by military or police vehicles and not heard of again.

Women would be rounded up, and either told to stay inside a school or other building or outside in the burning sun. Many would be raped or experienced others forms of sexual violence, often during strip searches, either during round-ups or in homes.

Simultaneously, those fleeing would be shot at with rifles and RPGs, and in Yae Khat Chaung Gwa Son, Dar Gyi Zar and in Kyar Gaung Taung, also from helicopters.

There were also many reports of summary executions, either by shooting at point blank range or by knife, including of babies, toddlers, children, women and elderly people.

In some villages, only very few houses are reportedly still standing. According to testimonies, there are no or few men of working age left, and the women and children who could flee have done so. According to the testimonies the team gathered, some who were too old or too poor to flee are still trying to survive among the ashes and the wreckage, lacking food.

Interviewees who were still in touch with relatives in their home villages reported that the "area clearance operations" continue, with continued regular presence of the security forces in the villages (although the burning of homes seems to have ceased since December, replaced in some cases by destruction by other means)."

From p.38, 3 Feb 2017 UNOCHR Flash Report

This testimony from a woman from Pwint Hpyu Chaung is indicative of what the residents of the hardest hit villages experienced:

"While we were sleeping, it was 2 or 3 a.m., I did not notice that the military surrounded my whole house. They suddenly entered. They carried both rifles and knives. One used a knife to cut some rope in my house. My brother and my sister-in-law's husband had their hands tied behind their backs with that rope. They were first beaten with rifle butts. They were beaten so harshly that my brother was about to die, it was so horrible to watch. When they were beating my brother and my sister-in-law's husband, we were close to them, we were also lying down. Whenever they were crying we were also crying. My oldest son and my (11-year old) daughter were beaten too.

And then they shot and killed my brother and my brother-in-law. This happened just outside our house. When they were shooting, a bullet grazed my daughter's skin too. Then they dragged their bodies away. We never found their bodies.

I cannot tell you what I am feeling inside. The military was kicking us with their boots, my husband was lying down as if he was dead, spreading his hands wide. The military thought he was dead, so they brought bamboo sticks and threw them on top of him.

We were very scared. We fled to my father's house which is located just next door. But by this time another group of military came and they set the house on fire. All of us were trying to flee, but then they called my father out from all us women and children. We told our father, please don't go, they will kill you. They asked us women and children to go away, so we left, and then they took our father from us. They took him, his hands were tied with a rope. Then they set the house on fire.

Then we fled into the forest, by this time the house was burning. When we came back we were looking for our father, and then we found his body totally burned, together with three other bodies. It was my other brother who is alive and who is here in Bangladesh, he was the one who went to the house, and he found our father and our uncle lying on his shoulder, his uncle's son was also there, burned. Maybe they held each other tight, that could be why they seemed to be hugging in their death, my brother said (p.40)."

- A mother of 8 and 11 year old children from Pwint Hpyu Chaung village

The aforementioned excerpts are from UNOCHR Flash Report released on 3 Feb 2017, which detailed systematic and unprecedented atrocities committed against Rohingyas in Northern Rakhine State by Myanmar government's troops (and armed local Rakhine). 

SOURCE: Report of OHCHR mission to Bangladesh -- Interviews with Rohingyas fleeing from Myanmar since 9 October 2016

http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/MM/FlashReport3Feb2017.pdf

- See more at: http://www.maungzarni.net/2017/02/rohingyas-would-be-eliminated-from.html#sthash.4VPeNKcO.dpuf

Myanmar Authorities Seize Rohingya-Owned Farm Lands

Source Rohingyavision, 22 Feb

by Rohingya Eye & Rohingya Mirror

February 22, 2017

Maungdaw – The Maungdaw Township administration seized many acres of Rohingya-owned farmlands in southern Maungdaw last week in order to set up a model Hindu village, reports say.

The Maungdaw Township administrator and his team put up red flags on the Rohingya lands the village of Kyauk Pandu locally known as Shitaaf in the southern Maungdaw and ordered owners to stay away from the lands.

U Aye Myint, a human rights activist based in Maungdaw, view the move by the township administration to seize the Rohingya-owned farlands and setting up a model village on them is to create animosity and hostility between the local Muslims and the local Hindus.

"They have set up many illegal Rakhine settlements on the lands belonged to the Rohingyas in the past. It has created hostility between the people. Now, they are trying to create to animosity between Muslims and Hindus by setting up a Hindu village on the Rohingyas' lands. Now, the government under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi is still implementing the same old 'Divide and Rule Policy'", said U Aye Myint, while speaking to Rohingya Vision TV.

Some owners of the lands confiscated are:

• Mubarak (50), s/o Izhar Meah – 3 acres of his lands confiscated
• Abu Bakkar Siddique (45) – 1 acre of his land confiscated
• Sayedullah (50), s/o Abdu Jalil — 3 acres of his lands confiscated
• Abdu Salam (55), s/o Iman Ali — 4 acres of his lands confiscated
• Abul Kasim (45), s/o Hala Meah — 1 acre of his lands confiscated
• Habiullah (40), Sayedur Rahman — 1 acre of his lands confiscated
• An acre of a mosque-owned land
• Hashimullah (35), s/o Ghani Meah — 2 acres of his lands confiscated

"At a time when we all are facing severe political and economic crises, the government is confiscating our farmlands which are our lifelines. These seizures of our farmlands could lead us to face starvations and deaths," said a Rohingya farmer in southern Maungdaw.

In a separate event taking place, the Myanmar Border Guard Police has temporarily resumed travel access for the Rohingya people in Maungdaw today (on February 21), a permission that is effective only for 14 days.

It has been learn that the police will raid Rohingya villages and force them to accept the NVC (National Verification Card) if they don't agree to accept it within these 14 days. Approximately, 30 people at the village of AlayThanKyaw (locally known as Haishshu Rata) in southern Maungdaw have been forced to accept the NVC so far.

Read the related report: Border Guards Arrest Rohingya Figureheads for Skipping NVC-Related Meeting

[Edited by M.S. Anwar]

To send reports and feedback, please email to: editor@rvisiontv.com

US accepts Rohingya refugees from Indonesia

Source TheJakartapost, 13 Feb

In crisis -- In this Dec. 2, 2016 photo, Mohsena Begum, a Rohingya who escaped to Bangladesh from Myanmar, holds her child and sits at the entrance of a room of an unregistered refugee camp in Teknaf, near Cox's Bazar, a southern coastal district about, 296 kilometers (183 miles) south of Dhaka, Bangladesh. "They drove us out of our houses, men and women in separate lines, ordering us to keep our hands folded on the back of our heads," says 20-year-old Mohsena Begum, her voice choking as she described what happened to the little village of Caira Fara, which had long been home to hundreds of members of Myanmar's minority Rohingya community. In refugee camps in Bangladesh, survivors of a wave of violence that has swept Myanmar in recent weeks say government forces have targeted minority Rohingya villages, burning many to the ground, killing the innocent and raping women. (AP/A.M. Ahad)

Despite tough immigration policies introduced by United States President Donald Trump, American representatives in Medan and Makassar have begun to resettle Rohingya Muslim refugees, giving light to the country's recently eclipsed image as the world's beacon of democracy, freedom and tolerance.

The refugees from Myanmar whose boats washed ashore in Aceh two years ago, have passed interviews conducted by the US Consulate in Medan, North Sumatra, with the assistance of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Juha P. Salin, US Consul for Medan confirmed the transfer of Rohingya refugees to America, adding that the process would be conducted gradually.

"These cases are being processed continually and those who have the approved travel documents can travel to the US," said Salin.

He refused, however, to confirm the number of Rohingya refugees who had been permitted to resettle in the US.

Trump had ordered a fourmonth hold on allowing refugees into the US and a temporary ban on travelers from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen, which he said would protect Americans from violent Islamists.

The executive order has been blocked by the lower courts, but immigration authorities have continued to conduct raids across major cities in America.

The Ambassador to Indonesia Joseph R. Donovan has reassured Indonesia that the executive order will not affect the American value of religious tolerance.

"Both Americans and Indonesians are very tolerant people at their core and I believe that these values that we share, the importance of tolerance and respect for religious beliefs, particularly other people's religious beliefs, are the kind of values that will prevail in both of our societies," Donovan said earlier.

(Read also: Rohingya refugees in Indonesia worried by Trump presidency)

The resettlement process for Rohingya refugees in Indonesia began in November after the US Consulate in Medan started to interview the 184 Rohingya Muslims, stranded in Aceh.

The process, however, did not involve Rohingya refugees stranded in Medan for a longer period of time.

About 800 Rohingyas are currently staying in Indonesia, all of whom have been granted refugee status by the UNHCR.

According to a Rohingya refugee who was not included in the resettlement process, at least three had already flown to the US in the resettlement program.

Yudi Kurniadi, the head of North Sumatra Immigration Office, said Trump's policy had not affected the asylum applications of Rohingya refugees because Myanmar was not on the list of Trump's banned countries.

"Several Rohingya refugees were sent to the US this month. This was the first batch since the inauguration of Trump as US President," Yudi told The Jakarta Post.

Yudi said the refugees from the province sent to the US over the past few months were only those from Myanmar. Some others had been sent to Australia and Canada.

Medan hosts 2,089 refugees, 390 of whom are from Afghanistan, 363 from Sri Lanka, 490 from Myanmar, 283 from Somalia, 279 from Palestine and 129 from Iran.

Their destination countries include the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

In Makassar, South Sulawesi, Zarida, another refugee from Myanmar currently living in the city, is also scheduled to be sent to the US on Feb. 14.

Zarida has been staying in Makassar since 2013. The city hosts 1,900 refugees from the Middle East and 60 from Myanmar.

Ramli, the head of the South Sulawesi immigration office, said Zarida's departure to the US was facilitated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

"She passed the verification process and so she will be sent to the US on Feb. 14," said Ramli.

Zarida was first discovered as an undocumented immigrant four years ago in the city.

She was later verified and granted refugee status under the supervision of the IOM.

US begins to resettle Rohingya refugees, transferred from Indonesia Myanmar not subject to Trump's executive order

150 Rohingya families get Malaysian relief

Source Prothom, 15 Feb

 

Malaysian volunteers distributed relief goods among 150 Rohingya families in Cox's Bazar on Wednesday.

Malaysian parliament member Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahim led the 25-member delegation arrived in Chittagong in relief-laden ship Nautical Aliya.

District administration sources said the volunteers reached Kutupalong camp of unregistered Rohingya in Ukhia upazila around 11 am and distributed relief among 50 refugee families (5-6 membered each).

International Organisation of Migration and Red Crescent Society jointly assisted in the relief distribution.

The Malaysian team reached another unregistered Rohingya camp set up in Balukhali of Ukhia at 12:30pm and distributed relief among 50 more families. 

The team distributed relief to another 50 unregistered Rohingya families in Leda camp at Teknaf upazila of Cox's Bazar.

Every packet of relief goods had 35 items including rice, lentil, sugar, grain, edible oil, blanket and medicine to provide food for two months for a family.

The relief distribution coordination committee chief and Cox's Bazar district ADC, Saiful Islam Majumdar, said 15 thousand more Rohingya families would be given relief in turns.

'Food flotilla for Myanmar' not just a humanitarian mission but stop atrocities against Rohingyas

Source 5 Feb 2017, astroawani

The mission is not just to provide humanitarian aid but accompanied by a message - that of to stop the atrocities against the ethnic Rohingya. - Filepic

PORT KLANG: The 'Food Flotilla For Myanmar' on board the 'Nautical Aliya' which departed from Malaysia for Myanmar is expected to arrive in Yangon, Myanmar on Feb 8.

The mission organised by the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islam Organisations (Mapim), Kelab Putra 1Malaysia and Turkiye Diyanet Vakfi Foundation (TDV) from Turkey will see the vessel 'Nautical Aliya' carrying 200 volunteers and 2,300 tonnes of food and medical supply for the ethnic Rohingya in Myanmar.

The mission is not just to provide humanitarian aid but accompanied by a message - that of to stop the atrocities against the ethnic Rohingya.

READ OUR LIVE UPDATES HERE

Following is the transcript of an interview with MAPIM President Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid by BERNAMA journalist Anis Nabilla Md Wazilah who is part of the mission.

BERNAMA : What is the 'Food Flotilla For Myanmar' mission about?

MOHD AZMI: The mission is to send humanitarian aid plus put forward a message to the communities around the world about the atrocities against the ethnic Rohingya in Myanmar and to stop such acts of violence.

BERNAMA : Apart from supplying food, what else will the volunteers do during the mission?

MOHD AZMI: We have plans to provide medical assistance to about 5,000 people affected by the ongoing conflict. As for the food supply, we expect to assist about 20,000 to 30,000 refugees.

We also hope the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh will give us the necessary approval to ensure the mission is successful.

BERNAMA: What are the challenges expected during the mission?

MOHD AZMI: We took about three months to plan the mission and delegation involved in the mission. The challenges were to secure a ship for the mission, manage the approval process from Myanmar.

Many discussions and meetings were held, the biggest challenge was to source for funds, we even had to delay the mission due to lack of funds and we felt guilty about it but 'God Willing' the mission could be carried out now.

Careful preparations had gone into setting up the mission and we took into account various aspects, like technicalities on the ship, ever changing weather throughout the journey, etc.

BERNAMA : What is the hope of the mission?

MOHD AZMI: Certainly our hope is not only to provide humanitarian aid to those affected but to carry out programmes that can benefit the ethnic Rohingya who are suffering.

The 'Food Flotilla for Myanmar' is just one aspect of the Humanitarian aid because there are other areas that need to be looked at, like defending the rights of the ethnic Rohingya and not allow them to be killed or forced out of their homeland, that is our objective. - BERNAMA

U Ko Ni, a Prominent Muslim Lawyer in Myanmar, Is Fatally Shot

Source NYtimes, 

2017

Police and security officers guarding the scene where U Ko Ni, a prominent Muslim lawyer and adviser to Myanmar's leader, was fatally shot on Sunday at Yangon International Airport Credit Nyein Chan Naing/European Pressphoto Agency

YANGON, Myanmar — U Ko Ni, a prominent human rights lawyer and a legal adviser to Myanmar's leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was fatally shot at Yangon International Airport on Sunday.

Mr. Ko Ni, 65, a Muslim and a member of the ruling National League for Democracy, was returning from Indonesia with about 20 other government officials and civic leaders, who had traveled there as part of a government-organized trip to discuss democracy and conflict resolution.

He was shot in the head at close range as he was about to leave the airport in his family car, according to witnesses.

"During the shooting, he was holding his grandchild," said U Aung Myint Oo, an airport security guard. "He fell down bleeding on the ground and died on the spot."

As he attempted to flee, the gunman shot and killed a taxi driver, U Ne Win, who had tried to stop him. Other taxi drivers detained him until the police arrived and arrested him, seizing two handguns. The gunman was identified by police as U Kyi Lin from Mandalay.

According to taxi drivers who witnessed the attack, the gunman shouted, "You can't act like that," before opening fire.

Photo

Ko Ni, a prominent member of Myanmar's Muslim minority and legal adviser for Myanmar's ruling National League for Democracy, is seen during an interview in Yangon last January. Credit Reuters

Police were seen searching the house of Mr. Kyi Lyn in a neighborhood of Mandalay.

No motive for the murder has been given. Mr. Ko Ni was one of the best-known Muslims in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, serving as a legal adviser to the N.L.D. He was the author of six books on human rights issues and democratic elections, and was actively involved in the interfaith peace movement.

"It seems the gunman knew the exact time of his arrival and was waiting to shoot him," said a member of the team who traveled with Mr. Ko Ni to Indonesia, and who spoke on the condition of anonymity over concern for his safety. "I was shocked and scared. It is unsafe here."

A spokesman for the N.L.D., U Win Htein, said during a telephone interview from Naypyidaw, Myanmar's capital, that Mr. Ko Ni was a key adviser in recent years to Ms. Suu Kyi, the former opposition leader turned leader of Myanmar, on constitutional amendments.

"His assassination was a big blow to the National League for Democracy, and it would be very difficult for us to replace him," Mr. Win Htein said. "We lost a hero. It is a bad situation here."

Amnesty International, which worked with Mr. Ko Ni on human rights issues in Myanmar, called for an independent investigation into his death.

"The killing of prominent lawyer U Ko Ni in Yangon today is an appalling act that has all the hallmarks of an assassination," Josef Benedict, the organization's deputy campaigns director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement.

"It demands that the authorities immediately launch a thorough, independent and impartial investigation," Mr. Benedict added. "The authorities must send a clear message that such violence will not be tolerated and will not go unpunished."

Wai Moe reported from Yangon, Myanmar, and Saw Nang contributed reporting from Mandalay, Myanmar.

Syed Hamid: Asean must act on plight of Rohingyas

Source Thestar, 26 Nov

KUALA LUMPUR: Asean countries have been urged to consider convening an extraordinary meeting to address the ethnic cleansing of Ro­­hingya Muslims in Rakhine state.

The Organisation of Islamic Co­­ope­­ration special envoy for Myan­mar Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar said Asean countries should ask Myan­mar and its military to stop the violence against the Rohingya.

"From the reports we have re­­ceived in the field, it is just pure and brutal ethnic cleansing undertaken by the government and military.

"According to civil society and the human rights report, there is a crime against humanity and genocide.

"We have cross checked and verified from people who escaped and from the visuals we received. We cannot help but think it is true," Syed Hamid said yesterday.

He said the Rohingya had the right to be protected under international law.

"We want humanity and de­cency to be embraced. They must allow humanitarian aid to come in In­ves­tigation must be carried out by an independent international body that will act in accordance with international laws and human rights covenants," he said.

Rakhine Rohingya crisis: 'Myanmar government legitimising genocide'

Source ibtimes, 23 Nov

A security personnel stands guard after catching thirty eight Rohingya Muslims illegally crossing at a border check point in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, November 21, 2016.REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain

Aung Suu Kyi's government is legitimising genocide in Myanmar and it has abetted the persecution of the Rohingya minority, a London think tank has accused.

Citing results from months of fieldwork in Myanmar's Rakhine State, researchers at Queen Mary University of London said Myanmar state's policies are "genocidal". The research exposed evidence of mass killings, forced labour, torture, sexual violence, arbitrary detention, institutional discrimination, and the destruction of communities, the paper published by the International State Crime Initiative at QMUL said.

"The election of Anng Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy in 2015 has brought no respite for the Rohingya. In October this year a new reign of terror by the Myanmar state emerged and continues to escalate. We continue to see widespread killings, arbitrary detention, mass rape, collective punishment, arson, and village clearances," Penny Green, Professor of International Law at QMUL and Director of ISCI said.

On-the-ground reports reveal a consistent picture of a trapped, terrified, and desperate community, the paper says. They said reports are consistent with historical practices of state repression and violence in the region, echoing the brutal and indiscriminate crackdowns of 1977-8 and 1991-2 when hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to Bangladesh.

State-sponsored denial of access to health care, livelihood, food, and civic life worsen the plight of the Rohinguya minorities, according to the study.

"Despite the fact that this is the most significant test of Suu Kyi's leadership, the country's de-facto leader has remained remarkably indifferent. Neither Suu Kyi nor her President Htin Kyaw have visited Rakhine state during the current crisis," Professor Green said.

"Suu Kyi says very little, other than to repeat the line that investigations will be conducted fairly and according to the rule of law. Her claim that 'we have not tried to hide anything on Rakhine' is utterly disingenuous. Her statements run counter to reports that we, and our colleagues in the human rights community, are receiving from the Rakhine state and can only be interpreted as denial – a familiar and integral strategy deployed by criminal states to deflect blame."

The Myanmar government has adopted "the military dictatorship-era tactics of blanket denial, an absolute ban on international observation, severe limitations on humanitarian access within the region, the muzzling of the press, and the 'blacklisting' and deportation of human rights activists," said Thomas MacManus, lawyer and ISCI researcher.

Malaysia debates pulling out of ASEAN soccer cup over Myanmar's Rohingya crackdown

Source DailyMail, 23 Nov

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Malaysia is considering pulling its side out of a major regional soccer tournament co-hosted by Myanmar in protest over Myanmar's crackdown on ethnic Rohingya Muslims, a senior Malaysian official said on Wednesday.

A withdrawal by Muslim-majority Malaysia from the ASEAN Football Federation's (AFF) Suzuki Cup, which began on Saturday, would run counter to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations' long-standing policy of non-interference.

"I raised this issue in Cabinet last week. Will do so again this week and stand guided by decision," Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said on Twitter on Wednesday.

That came in response to a call by a state Islamic cleric for Malaysia to pull out of the tournament, which is co-hosted with the Philippines. Cabinet is expected to meet on Friday.

Malaysia was due to play Vietnam in Yangon on Wednesday.

The conflict in northwestern Rakhine state has sent hundreds of Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh and poses a serious challenge to Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who swept to power last year on promises of national reconciliation.

Myanmar soldiers have poured into the Maungdaw area in Rakhine state since Oct. 9, after an insurgent group of Rohingyas that the government believes has links to Islamists overseas launched attacks on several border guard posts.

Escalating violence has reportedly killed at least 86 people and displaced some 30,000. Myanmar soldiers have also been accused of sexually assaulting dozens of women from the persecuted minority.

Suu Kyi's problems have since been exacerbated by a resurgence of fighting among four armed ethnic groups in northeastern Shan state, which has sent thousands fleeing into China. (Reporting by Joseph Sipalan; Editing by Paul Tait)

Burmese Navy Open Fire at Rohingya Boats

Source Rvision, 16 Nov

By RVision TV Correspondent

Maungdaw — The Burmese Navy opened fires at two paddle-boats (canoes) carrying some Rohingya people — fleeing the army killings at their villages in northern Maungdaw — on board in the Naff River around 9 PM last night (on November 15 night), a reliable source reported.

A boatful of people numbering 7 are believed to have died as their boat was hit by bullets and subsequently capsized in the river.

The Navy caught the second boat and investigated the people on board. Post that, the navy took off the paddles from the boat and set it adrift towards the sea.

As luck would have it, they encountered a fishing boat just at the mouth of the Bay of Bengal after floating in the river for hours. The fishing boat saved them, according to a statement from a surviving victim.

Many numbers of people are fleeing from the military assaults in Maungdaw to Bangladesh by boats. However, not all of them manage to reach to Bangladesh but get disappeared in the Naff River. Unfortunately, these losses of lives go unreported most of the times.

Note: we withhold the identities and the names of the villages of the surviving victims for their safety.

[Edited by M.S. Anwar]

Myanmar: 28 killed in new violence in Rakhine state

Source Aljazeera, 13 Nov

Military says it killed 28 people who attacked security forces in Rakhine state as violence continues.

Myanmar police patrol along the border fence between Myanmar and Bangladesh in Maungdaw district [File: Thein Zaw/AP]

Myanmar's military says at least 28 people have been killed during renewed clashes in western Rakhine state.

The announcement on Sunday came the same day a Human Rights Watch report said satellite images appeared to show three Muslim Rohingya villages had been "burned to the ground" in recent weeks.

In a statement published online, the military said 22 attackers armed with swords were killed near Dar Gyi Zar village after they charged at soldiers, adding another six attackers were killed during clashes elsewhere in the restive state.

• Video
  Myanmarsoldiers allegedly killed Rohingya villagers

Al Jazeera Exclusive: Myanmar soldiers allegedly killed Rohingya villagers

Authorities have heavily restricted access to the area, which came under deadly attack last month, making it difficult to independently verify government reports or accusations of army abuse.

Northern Rakhine, which is home to the Muslim Rohingya minority and borders Bangladesh, has been under military lockdown ever since surprise raids on border posts left nine police dead last month.

Soldiers have killed several dozen people and arrested scores in their hunt for the attackers, who the government said are radicalised Rohingya people with links to foreign armed groups.

On Saturday, the military claimed two soldiers and six attackers were killed in an ambush, after helicopter gunships were deployed.

Rohingya villages burned down

The crisis and reports of grave rights abuses being carried out in tandem with the security crackdown have piled international pressure on Myanmar's new civilian government, and raised questions about its ability to control its military.

New York-based HRW urged authorities to invite United Nations investigators to look into the destruction of a total of 430 buildings in three villages in the northern Maungdaw district between October 22 and November 10.

"New satellite images not only confirm the widespread destruction of Rohingya villages, but show that it was even greater than we first thought," Brad Adams, HRW's Asia director, said in a statement. 

According to the group, the damage took place in the villages of Pyaung Pyit, Kyet Yoe Pyin, and Wa Peik.

Rohingya people are a stateless minority whom Buddhist nationalists vilify as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh - even though many have lived in Myanmar for generations. 

The latest outbreak of violence came at a time of heightened tensions between the authorities and the ethnic Rohingya community, which has seen the government arm non-Muslim civilians in Rakhine and renewed crackdowns on the Rohingya.

Satellite images showing the three villages in Myanmar where hundreds of buildings have been burned in recent weeks [NASA/HRW]

Source: Al Jazeera And Agencies