Prevent another episode of Rohingya persecution
Intense fighting in Myanmar's Rakhine State poses a grave threat to civilians, the United Nations warned yesterday, as it urged international pressure to prevent more "horrendous persecution" of ethnic Rohingyas.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said clashes between the military and the Arakan Army, alongside tensions being fuelled between the Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine communities, meant there was a serious risk of a repeat of previous atrocities.
"The alarm bells are ringing, and we must not allow there to be a repeat of the past," Turk said in a statement.
In 2017, about 750,000 Rohingyas fled Rakhine state to Bangladesh in the face of genocidal acts by the Myanmar military, putting a huge burden on Bangladesh. Before the arrival of them, the country was hosting about 300,000 Rohingyas who had fled violence in the Rakhine State since the 1990s.
Over the last five years, several attempts at repatriation have failed.
Thousands still risk their lives each year trying to get away from Myanmar on flimsy boats trying to get to Malaysia or Indonesia.
"Countries with influence on the Myanmar military and armed groups involved must act now to protect all civilians in Rakhine state and prevent another episode of horrendous persecution of the Rohingyas," Turk said.
Clashes have rocked Rakhine state again since the Arakan Army attacked security forces in November, ending a ceasefire that had largely held since the military's 2021 coup.
The AA is one of several armed ethnic minority groups in Myanmar's border regions.
Turk's office said that since the informal ceasefire broke down, 15 of Rakhine's 17 townships had been affected by fighting, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries, and taking the number of displaced to well over 300,000.
"Rakhine state has once again become a battleground involving multiple actors, and civilians are paying a heavy price, with Rohingya at particular risk," said Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights.
"What is particularly disturbing is that whereas in 2017, the Rohingya were targeted by one group, they are now trapped between two armed factions who have a track record of killing them. We must not allow the Rohingya to be targeted again."
The military has been fast losing ground to the Arakan Army (AA) throughout northern and central Rakhine. This has led to intensified fighting in the townships of Buthidaung and Maungdaw, ahead of an expected battle for the Rakhine State capital, Sittwe. The two townships are home to large Rohingya population, putting them at grave risk.
"Facing defeat, the military has outrageously started to forcibly conscript, bribe and coerce Rohingya into joining their ranks. It is unconscionable that they should be targeted in this way, given the appalling events of six years ago, and the ongoing extreme discrimination against the Rohingya including the denial of citizenship," Türk said.
Some reports say the military is forcing the Rohingya recruits or villagers to burn ethnic Rakhine homes, buildings or villages. Ethnic Rakhine villagers have allegedly responded in kind by burning Rohingya villages.
The UN Human Rights Office is trying to verify all reports received, a task complicated by a communications blackout throughout the State.
Türk said disinformation and propaganda are also rife, pointing to claims that "Islamic terrorists" have taken Hindus and Buddhists hostage.
"This was the same kind of hateful narrative that fuelled communal violence in 2012 and the horrendous attacks against the Rohingya in 2017," he said.
Myanmar's junta came to power in the February 2021 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government, ending a 10-year experiment with democracy and plunging the Southeast Asian nation into bloody turmoil.
The junta is struggling to crush resistance to its rule by long-established ethnic rebel groups and newer pro-democracy forces.
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