Bangladesh begins relocating Rohingya refugees to island

December 03, 2020

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Authorities in Bangladesh have begun relocating thousands of Rohingya refugees to an isolated island despite calls by human rights groups for a halt to the process, officials said Thursday.

The United Nations has also voiced concern that refugees be allowed to make a “free and informed decision” about whether to relocate to the island in the Bay of Bengal. The island's facilities are built to accommodate 100,000 people, just a fraction of the million Rohingya Muslims who have fled waves of violent persecution in their native Myanmar and are currently living in crowded, squalid refugee camps.

On Thursday, 11 passenger buses carrying refugees left Cox’s Bazar district on the way to the island, where they are expected to arrive after an overnight stopover, a government official involved with the process said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

He said “a few thousand" refugees were in the first batch. Authorities in Cox’s Bazar did not say how the refugees were selected for relocation. About 700,000 Rohingya fled to the camps in Cox’s Bazar after August 2017, when the military in Buddhist-majority Myanmar began a harsh crackdown on the Muslim group following an attack by insurgents. The crackdown included rapes, killings and the torching of thousands of homes, and was termed ethnic cleansing by global rights groups and the U.N.

Foreign media have not been permitted to visit the island, called Bhashan Char, or floating island. It was once regularly submerged by monsoon rains but now has flood protection embankments, houses, hospitals and mosques built at a cost of more than $112 million by the Bangladesh navy.

Located 21 miles (34 kilometers) from the mainland, the island surfaced only 20 years ago and was never inhabited. Contractors say its infrastructure is like a modern township, with multifamily concrete homes, schools, playgrounds and roads. It also has solar-power facilities, a water supply system and cyclone shelters.

International aid agencies and the U.N. have vehemently opposed the relocation since it was first proposed in 2015, expressing fear that a big storm could overwhelm the island and endanger thousands of lives.

The U.N. said in a statement Wednesday that it has not been involved in preparations for the relocation or the selection of refugees and has limited information about the overall plan. “The United Nations takes this opportunity to highlight its longstanding position that Rohingya refugees must be able to make a free and informed decision about relocating to Bhasan Char based upon relevant, accurate and updated information," it said.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch on Thursday urged the government to cancel the relocation plan. The current refugee camps near the town of Cox’s Bazar are overcrowded and unhygienic. Disease and organized crime are rampant. Education is limited and refugees are not allowed to work.

Still, most Rohingya are unwilling to return to Myanmar due to safety concerns. Government officials didn’t have an estimate of how many refugees would be willing to be relocated to the island. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has repeatedly told the U.N. and other international partners that her administration would consult them before making a final decision on the relocation, and that no refugees would be forced to move.

Bangladesh attempted to start sending refugees back to Myanmar under a bilateral framework last November, but no one was willing to go. The Rohingya are not recognized as citizens in Myanmar, rendering them stateless, and face other forms of state-sanctioned discrimination.

A U.N.-sponsored investigation in 2018 recommended the prosecution of Myanmar’s top military commanders on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for the violence against the Rohingya.

Myanmar is defending itself in the International Court of Justice in the Hague, Netherlands, after the West African nation of Gambia brought a case backed by the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, Canada and the Netherlands over the crackdown.

Reports: 2 Myanmar Soldiers Taken to the Hague after Confessing to Rohingya Killings

Tuesday, 8 September, 2020

Two Myanmar soldiers have been taken to The Hague after confessing to murdering minority Rohingya Muslims during a 2017 crackdown, two news organizations and a rights group reported on Tuesday.

The two men admitted to killing dozens of villagers in northern Rakhine state and burying them in mass graves, according to the New York Times, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the non-profit Fortify Rights, citing statements the men made on videos filmed in Myanmar this year.

Reuters has not seen the videos cited by the news organizations. The New York Times said it could not independently confirm that the two soldiers committed the crimes to which they confessed.

Myanmar government and military spokesmen did not answer calls seeking comment.

The reports said the men had been in the custody of the Arakan Army insurgent group, which is now battling Myanmar government troops in Rakhine state, when they made the admissions and were later taken to The Hague in the Netherlands, where they could appear as witnesses or face trial.

It was not clear from the reports how the men fell into the hands of the Arakan Army, why they were speaking, or how they were transported to The Hague and under whose authority.

A spokesman for the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague, said it did not have the men in custody.

"No. These reports are not correct. We don't have these persons in the ICC custody," said the spokesman, Fadi el Abdallah.

Payam Akhavan, a Canadian lawyer representing Bangladesh in a filing against Myanmar at the ICC, said the two men had appeared at a border post requesting the protection of the government and had confessed to the mass murder and rape of Rohingya civilians in 2017.

"All I can say is that those two individuals are no longer in Bangladesh," he said.

A spokesman for the Arakan Army, Khine Thu Kha, said the two men were deserters and were not held as prisoners of war. He did not comment further on where the men were now, but said the group was "committed to justice" for all victims of the Myanmar military.

Myanmar has repeatedly denied allegations of genocide, saying its military operations in 2017 were targeting Rohingya militants who attacked police border posts.

The ICC is investigating the crime against humanity of forced deportation of Rohingya to Bangladesh, as well as persecution and other inhumane acts.

A statement from the ICC Prosecutor's Office said: "The office does not publicly comment on speculation or reports regarding its ongoing investigations, neither does the office discuss specifics of any aspect of its investigative activities."

Myanmar is also facing charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice, also in The Hague, though that body does not bring cases against individuals or hear witnesses.

Source: Asharq al-Awsat.
Link: https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2495516/reports-2-myanmar-soldiers-taken-hague-after-confessing-rohingya-killings.

Rohingya hail UN ruling that Myanmar act to prevent genocide

January 23, 2020

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations' top court on Thursday ordered Myanmar to do all it can to prevent genocide against the Rohingya people, a ruling met by members of the Muslim minority with gratitude and relief but also some skepticism that the country's rulers will fully comply.

The ruling by the International Court of Justice came despite appeals last month by Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi for the judges to drop the case amid her denials of genocide by the armed forces that once held the former pro-democracy champion under house arrest for 15 years.

Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, president of the court, said in his order that the Rohingya in Myanmar "remain extremely vulnerable.” In a unanimous decision, the 17-judge panel added that its order for so-called provisional measures intended to protect the Rohingya is binding "and creates international legal obligations" on Myanmar.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes the court’s order and “will promptly transmit the notice of the provisional measures” it ordered to the U.N. Security Council, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Diplomats said the U.N.'s most powerful body is not expected to take any action until it sees how Myanmar is implementing the court's order. While the court has no ability to enforce the orders, one international law expert said the ruling will strengthen other nations pressing for change in Myanmar.

“Thus far, it's been states trying to put pressure on Myanmar or using their good offices or ... diplomatic pressure," said Priya Pillai, head of the Asia Justice Coalition Secretariat. "Now, essentially for any state, there is legal leverage.”

The orders specifically refer to Rohingya still in Myanmar and thus did not look likely to have an immediate impact on more than 700,000 of them who have fled to neighboring Bangladesh in recent years to escape Myanmar's brutal crackdown.

Even so, Yasmin Ullah, a Rohingya activist who lives in Vancouver and was in court for the decision, called it a historic ruling. “Today, having the judges unanimously agree to the protection of Rohingya means so much to us because we're now allowed to exist and it's legally binding," she told reporters on the steps of the court.

But asked if she believes Myanmar will comply, she replied: “I don't think so.” Myanmar's legal team left the court without commenting. Later, its foreign ministry said in a statement that it took note of the ruling, but repeated its assertion that there has been no genocide against the Rohingya.

The court sought to safeguard evidence that could be used in future prosecutions, ordering Myanmar to "take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related" to allegations of genocidal acts.

At the end of an hour-long session in the court's wood-paneled Great Hall of Justice, judges also ordered Myanmar to report to them in four months on what measures the country has taken to comply with the order and then to report every six months as the case moves slowly through the world court.

“I think this is the court maybe being much more proactive and ... careful in acknowledging that this is a serious situation and there needs to be much more follow-up and monitoring by the court itself, which is which is quite unusual as well,” Pallai said.

Rogingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh welcomed the order, which was even supported by a temporary judge appointed by Myanmar to be part of the panel. “This is good news. We thank the court as it has reflected our hope for justice. The verdict proves that Myanmar has become a nation of torturers,” 39-year-old Abdul Jalil told The Associated Press by phone from Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar.

However, he too expressed doubts that Myanmar would fully comply. “Myanmar has become a notorious state. We do not have confidence in it," Jalil said. “There is little chance that Myanmar will listen.”

Rights activists also welcomed the decision. “The ICJ order to Myanmar to take concrete steps to prevent the genocide of the Rohingya is a landmark step to stop further atrocities against one of the world’s most persecuted people," said Param-Preet Singh, associate international justice director of New York-based Human Rights Watch. "Concerned governments and U.N. bodies should now weigh in to ensure that the order is enforced as the genocide case moves forward.”

The world court order for what it calls provisional measures came in a case brought by the African nation of Gambia on behalf of an organization of Muslim nations that accuses Myanmar of genocide in its crackdown on the Rohingya.

The judges did not decide on the substance of the case, which will be debated in legal arguments likely to last years before a final ruling is issued. But their order to protect the Rohingya made clear they fear for ongoing attacks.

At public hearings last month, lawyers used maps, satellite images and graphic photos to detail what they called a campaign of murder, rape and destruction amounting to genocide perpetrated by Myanmar's military.

The hearings drew intense scrutiny as Suu Kyi defended the campaign by her country's military forces. Suu Kyi, who as Myanmar's state counselor heads the government, was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for championing democracy and human rights under Myanmar's then-ruling junta.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long considered the Rohingya to be "Bengalis" from Bangladesh even though their families have lived in the country for generations. Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless. They are also denied freedom of movement and other basic rights.

In August 2017, Myanmar's military launched what it called a clearance campaign in northern Rakhine state in response to an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group. The campaign forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh and led to accusations that security forces committed mass rapes and killings and burned thousands of homes.

Suu Kyi told world court judges in December that the exodus was a tragic consequence of the military's response to "coordinated and comprehensive armed attacks" by Rohingya insurgents. Thursday's ruling came two days after an independent commission established by Myanmar's government concluded there are reasons to believe security forces committed war crimes in counterinsurgency operations against the Rohingya, but that there is no evidence supporting charges that genocide was planned or carried out.

Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch's deputy Asia director, said the panel's findings were “what would have been expected from a non-transparent investigation by a politically skewed set of commissioners working closely with the Myanmar government."

At December's public hearings, Paul Reichler, a lawyer for Gambia, cited a U.N. fact-finding mission report at hearings last month that said military "clearance operations" in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state spared nobody. "Mothers, infants, pregnant women, the old and infirm. They all fell victim to this ruthless campaign,” he said.

Gambia's Justice Minister Aboubacarr Tambadou urged the world court to act immediately and “tell Myanmar to stop these senseless killings, to stop these acts of barbarity that continue to shock our collective conscience, to stop this genocide of its own people.”

Anna Roberts, executive director of Burma Campaign UK, called the order “a major blow to Aung San Suu Kyi and her anti-Rohingya policies.” She urged the international community to press her to enforce the court's order.

“The chances of Aung San Suu Kyi implementing this ruling will be zero unless significant international pressure is applied,” Roberts said. "So far, the international community has not been willing to apply pressure on Aung San Suu Kyi over her own appalling record on human rights.”

Court to rule in case accusing Myanmar of Rohingya genocide

January 23, 2020

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations' highest court is set to rule Thursday on whether to order Myanmar to halt what has been described as a genocidal campaign against the country's Rohingya Muslims.

The International Court of Justice heard a case brought by the African nation of Gambia on behalf of an organization of Muslim nations that accuses Myanmar of genocide in its crackdown on the Rohingya.

At public hearings last month, lawyers for Myanmar's accusers used maps, satellite images and graphic photos to detail what they call a campaign of murder, rape and destruction amounting to genocide perpetrated by Myanmar's military.

The hearings drew intense scrutiny as Myanmar's former pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi defended the campaign by military forces that once held her under house arrest for 15 years. Suu Kyi, who as Myanmar's state counselor heads the government, was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for championing democracy and human rights under Myanmar's then-ruling junta.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long considered the Rohingya to be "Bengalis" from Bangladesh even though their families have lived in the country for generations. Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless. They are also denied freedom of movement and other basic rights.

In August 2017, Myanmar's military launched what it called a clearance campaign in northern Rakhine state in response to an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group. The campaign forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh and led to accusations that security forces committed mass rapes, killings and burned thousands of homes.

Suu Kyi told world court judges in December that the exodus was a tragic consequence of the military's response to "coordinated and comprehensive armed attacks" by Rohingya insurgents. She urged judges to drop the genocide case and allow Myanmar's military justice system to deal with any abuses.

Thursday's ruling comes two days after an independent commission established by Myanmar's government concluded there are reasons to believe security forces committed war crimes in counterinsurgency operations against the Rohingya, but that there is no evidence supporting charges that genocide was planned or carried out.

The report drew criticism from rights activists. Pending release of the full report, Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said the panel's findings were “what would have been expected from a non-transparent investigation by a politically skewed set of commissioners working closely with the Myanmar government."

At December's public hearings, Paul Reichler, a lawyer for Gambia, cited a U.N. fact-finding mission report at hearings last month that said military "clearance operations" in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state spared nobody. "Mothers, infants, pregnant women, the old and infirm. They all fell victim to this ruthless campaign,” he said.

Gambia's Justice Minister Aboubacarr Tambadou urged the world court to act immediately and “tell Myanmar to stop these senseless killings, to stop these acts of barbarity that continue to shock our collective conscience, to stop this genocide of its own people.”

The world court's orders are legally binding but it relies on the United Nations to add political pressure, if necessary, to enforce them. The court is expected to take years to issue a final ruling in the case.

UN envoy: No prospect Rohingya refugees can go home soon

January 26, 2019

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A U.N. human rights envoy said that hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees won't be able to return to Myanmar soon because of threats to their safety in the Buddhist-majority nation.

Myanmar has been criticized by global rights groups and many nations for state-sponsored violence against ethnic minorities. Yanghee Lee, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, on Friday also criticized India and Saudi Arabia for mistreatment of the Rohingya in those countries.

Lee spent 10 days in Thailand and Bangladesh, speaking to refugees living in Bangladesh, authorities, U.N. agencies and international experts. More than 700,000 Rohingya refugees have fled into Bangladesh since late August 2017.

"It is clear that Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh cannot return to Myanmar in the near future," she said. She said violence against the Rohingya by the Myanmar army in Rakhine state that prompted them to flee to neighboring Bangladesh "bear the hallmarks of genocide." Myanmar has repeatedly turned down her request for allowing her to visit the country.

Myanmar has rejected all the allegations that any crimes against humanity and genocide took place. Global rights groups have called the country's top military officials to be tried for their alleged roles in the killing and rapes of Rohingya.

Lee said the violence against other minority groups must also end in Myanmar. "Its campaign of violence against ethnic minorities, including the Rohingya, the Kayin, the Kachin and the Shan, must end," she said.

She added: "There must be accountability for the campaign of ethnic cleansing and possible genocide against the Rohingya, as well as the war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated against ethnic minorities around the country."

Lee told journalists she was disturbed by reports of new violence in Rakhine state and she accused Myanmar of failing to create a peaceful environment so the refugees could return from Bangladesh. "The campaign of violence against the Rohingya continues, with the security forces slowly bleeding the remaining Rohingya population and continuing to force them to flee to Bangladesh," she said.

Lee said she was dismayed by Saudi Arabia's recent deportation of 13 Rohingya to Bangladesh, where they have been arrested and charged with forging the passports that they used to travel to Saudi Arabia.

About 1,300 Rohingya have recently arrived in Bangladesh from India, Bangladesh officials said earlier this week. Another 61 Rohingya, including many children, were arrested earlier this week by India in its northeastern states of Assam and Tripura. India rejected repeated U.N. calls against a decision by India to send at least 40,000 Rohingya back to Myanmar.

Bangladesh attempted to start repatriation in November last year under a deal with Myanmar despite reservations by the U.N. and other global human rights groups that conditions were not safe for Rohingya in Myanmar, which said it was ready to receive them. Bangladesh subsequently postponed the process.

The exodus of Rohingya began after Myanmar security forces launched a brutal crackdown following attacks by an insurgent group on guard posts in late August in 2017. The scale, organization and ferocity of the crackdown led the U.N. and several governments to accuse Myanmar of ethnic cleansing and genocide. Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had ordered border guards to open the border allowing them to get in.

Most people in Myanmar do not accept that the Rohingya Muslims are a native ethnic group, calling them as "Bengalis" who entered from Bangladesh centuries ago. Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, as well as access to education and hospitals.

India deports Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar

October 04, 2018

GAUHATI, India (AP) — India on Thursday deported its first group of Rohingya Muslims since the government last year ordered the expulsion of members of the Myanmar minority group and others who entered the country illegally.

The deportation was carried out after the Supreme Court rejected a last-minute plea by the seven men's lawyer that they be allowed to remain in India because they feared reprisals in Myanmar. They were arrested in 2012 for entering India illegally and have been held in prison since then.

Indian authorities handed the seven over to Myanmar officials at a border crossing in Moreh in Manipur state, a police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters. Each carried a bag of belongings.

The Supreme Court said it would allow their deportation because Myanmar had accepted them as citizens. Government attorney Tushar Mehta told the judges that Myanmar had given the seven certificates of identity and 1-month visas to facilitate their deportation.

Most Rohingya Muslims in Buddhist-majority Myanmar are denied citizenship and face widespread discrimination. Defense attorney Prashant Bhushan said the government should treat them as refugees, not as illegal migrants, and send a representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees to talk to them so they would not be deported under duress.

About 700,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since August 2017 to escape a brutal campaign of violence by Myanmar's military. An estimated 40,000 other Rohingya have taken refuge in parts of India. Less than 15,000 are registered with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

Many have settled in areas of India with large Muslim populations, including the southern city of Hyderabad, the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi, and the Himalayan region of Jammu-Kashmir. Some have taken refuge in northeast India bordering Bangladesh and Myanmar.

The Indian government says it has evidence there are extremists who pose a threat to the country's security among the Rohingya. India is fighting insurgencies in northern Kashmir and in its northeastern states.

Turkey to continue aid efforts for Rohingya in Ramadan

17.05.2018

ANKARA

Turkish charitable groups aim to reach thousands of Rohingya in Myanmar and Bangladesh during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) plans to deliver food parcels to 5,000 families living in refugee camps and in villages in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

The agency is also set to set up tents to serve iftars, or fast-breaking meals, for as many as 30,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

TIKA will also supply a separate group of 30,000 people with food parcels that contain salt, sugar, biscuit, persimmon, tea, onion, potato, pepper and chickpea, along with personal care items.

The agency will also establish new shelters for 180 families in Rakhine.

Also, the Turkiye Diyanet Foundation (TDV) -- the charity organization of Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs -- is set to distribute more than 6,000 food packages for Rohingya in Myanmar and provide 5,000 families with iftar meals.

The foundation also plans to deliver 10,000 food packages and serve iftar meals for 13,000 Rohingya in Cox-Bazaar, Bangladesh.

The Turkish Red Crescent Society will give food parcels and personal care products to 2,000 families in Bangladesh on a weekly basis during Ramadan.

The Turkish Red Crescent will also organize two iftar meals in Cox Bazaar.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, some 750,000 Rohingya, mostly children, and women, fled Myanmar when Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community, according to the Amnesty International.

At least 9,000 Rohingya were killed in Rakhine state from Aug. 25 to Sept. 24, according to Doctors Without Borders.

In a report published on Dec. 12, the global humanitarian organization said the deaths of 71.7 percent or 6,700 Rohingya were caused by violence. They include 730 children below the age of 5.

Source: Anadolu Agency.
Link: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/turkey-to-continue-aid-efforts-for-rohingya-in-ramadan/1149094.

Myanmar snubs Hague court's intervention in Rohingya crisis

August 10, 2018

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar sharply rejected an attempt by the International Criminal Court to consider the country's culpability for activities that caused 700,000 minority Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh for safety last year.

The office of the nation's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, said in a statement posted online Thursday that the court in the Netherlands has no jurisdiction over Myanmar because it is not a member state. It also offered procedural reasons for why it would not respond formally to the court's request for its views on the exodus of the Rohingya, and said the question "is meritless and should be dismissed." The ICC did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment.

Critics including U.N. experts have accused Myanmar's military of atrocities against the Rohingya amounting to ethnic cleaning, or even genocide. Suu Kyi's government says it was carrying out justifiable counterinsurgency operations in response to attacks on security forces by Rohingya militants in August last year.

The army, according to documentary evidence and survivor and eyewitness accounts compiled by human rights organizations, beat and killed civilians, organized rapes and the burning of thousands of homes belonging to Rohingya in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine.

The ICC had solicited Myanmar's views in April, and later set a July 27 deadline for a response to the question of whether the court should have jurisdiction. Myanmar accused the court of violating international legal norms by seeking to assert jurisdiction over the issue despite Myanmar not being a party to the Rome Statute establishing the court.

"By allowing such a contrived procedure, the ICC may set a dangerous precedent whereby future populistic causes and complaints against non-State Parties to the Rome Statute may be litigated at the urging of biased stakeholders and non-governmental organizations and even then, selectively based on the political current of the times," it said.

The statement also referred to several proceedings carried out by the court that it called irregular or not allowed under its own rules, including alleged "lack of fairness and transparency." It also mentioned its agreements to have Rohingya repatriated from Bangladesh, though such action has yet to be implemented and the U.N. has criticized Myanmar for delays.

The Rohingya have long faced severe discrimination and were the target of violence in 2012 that killed hundreds and drove about 140,000 people — predominantly Rohingya — from their homes to camps for the internally displaced, where most remained until last year's violence.

The government refuses to recognize the Rohingya as a legitimate native ethnic minority. Most Rohingya are denied citizenship and other rights.

UN chief visits Rohingya in Bangladesh refugee camps

July 02, 2018

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) — U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Monday that the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh to escape violence have been victims of one of the "most tragic stories" of the violation of human rights.

Guterres was visiting the sprawling refugee camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district to meet some of the Rohingya who have taken shelter there since last August. He said at a news conference that the refugees had to live under terrible conditions in the camps because of massive violations of their human rights in Myanmar. He praised Bangladesh's government for being generous toward the refugees.

"It is impossible to visit these camps without breaking our hearts with the suffering of the Rohingya people," Guterres said. "First of all, listening to the terrible stories of massive violence — of killings, of rape, of torture, of house or villages burnt — it is probably one of the most tragic stories in relation to the systematic violation of human rights."

He said the solidarity the international community was demonstrating toward the crisis was not necessarily being translated into reality when it comes to funding. Guterres said he was particularly worried about the potential threats of flooding and mudslides because of monsoon rains and urged the international community to step up with funding.

"When I see the young boys and girls, I remember my own granddaughters and I imagine what it would be see my granddaughters living in these conditions," he said. On Sunday, Guterres met Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and assured her of the U.N.'s continuing support for the Rohingya.

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi also visited the camps. "I am extremely humbled and moved by the courage of the Rohingya," Kim said. "We cannot turn our heads away. We stand in solidarity. ... Today we are all Rohingya."

Kim promised to continue to work with Bangladesh's government to support the refugees. Prior to Kim's visit to Bangladesh, the World Bank announced a $480 million grant to Bangladesh to address the needs of Rohingya, including health care, education, water, sanitation and social protection.

Maulana Salamat Ullah, a refugee, told The Associated Press that he talked to Guterres and shared his thoughts of going back home. "I told him we don't have our country, please help us take back our country. I am requesting the entire world to help get us our country back," he said.

"What would be our children's future? How will they get educated? We don't know what will happen," he said. The recent spasm of violence in Myanmar began when Rohingya insurgents staged a series of attacks on Aug. 25 on about 30 security outposts and other targets. In a subsequent crackdown described by U.N. and U.S. officials as "ethnic cleansing," Myanmar security forces have been accused of rape, killing, torture and the burning of Rohingya homes. Thousands are believed to have been killed.

Rohingya are denied citizenship in overwhelmingly Buddhist Myanmar, where they've faced persecution for decades. They're derided as "Bengalis," and many in Myanmar believe they are illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed an agreement in November to start repatriating the Rohingya in January, but the process has been delayed over safety concerns and a complicated verification process. Global human rights groups and the U.N. said the conditions in Myanmar were not safe for the refugees' return.

The U.N. refugee agency and Bangladesh finalized a memorandum of understanding this year that said the repatriation process must be "safe, voluntary and dignified in line with international standards."

Myanmar, UN sign pact on initial steps for Rohingya return

June 06, 2018

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar and U.N. agencies signed an agreement Wednesday that could eventually lead to the return of some of the 700,000 Rohingya Muslims who fled brutal persecution by the country's security forces and are now crowded into makeshift camps in Bangladesh.

The memorandum of understanding promises to establish a "framework of cooperation" that aims to create conditions for "voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable" repatriation of Rohingya refugees but does not address Myanmar's denial of citizenship for the minority.

Myanmar's government said it hoped the pact would hasten repatriation, but rights groups still doubt it will let many Rohingya return or can guarantee the safety of those who do. Myanmar's statement didn't mention Rohingya, reflecting the government and the Burmese majority's insistence there is no such ethnic group in Myanmar. Instead it referred to them as "displaced persons."

Myanmar's security forces have been accused of rape, killing, torture and the burning of Rohingya homes in western Rakhine state, where most Rohingya lived. The U.N. and U.S. have described the army crackdown that began in August last year as "ethnic cleansing."

Predominantly Buddhist Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in November to begin repatriating Rohingya. But refugees feared their lives would be at risk in Myanmar without international monitoring while Myanmar insisted they have identity documents, which most Rohingya have been denied.

Knut Ostby, U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar, said the agreement is an important first step toward resolving the crisis. "There is a lot of work to be done. This task should not be underestimated," Ostby said. "We are talking about approximately 700,000 people who don't only have to return, but the conditions have to be right for them to return: the conditions both in terms of their identity in society, in terms of their safety and also in terms of services, livelihoods, a place to live, infrastructure."

The U.N. has said the agreement provides for its refugee and development agencies to be given access to Rakhine state. It said that will allow the refugee agency to assess the situation and provide information to refugees about conditions in their areas of origin so that they can better decide whether they want to return.

The Myanmar government statement said assistance from the U.N. agencies would assist the work it has already started toward repatriation. It highlighted that it had cooperated with the U.N. a quarter century earlier in repatriating 230,000 "displaced persons" — Rohingya — who had fled violence in Rakhine to Bangladesh.

Rights groups remain pessimistic that the safe return of Rohingya refugees will ever be possible. They point to a lack of firm commitments from Myanmar and its decades of hostility toward a minority that was denied citizenship by a 1982 law that excluded them from a list of recognized ethnic groups in the majority Buddhist nation.

"How will the Burmese government guarantee these people will not face again persecution?" said Kyaw Win, executive director of Burma Human Rights Network. "It is very politically convenient for the Burmese government to sign this agreement, and also never commit."

Some 125,000 of the Rohingya who remain in Myanmar are living in camps where their movement is restricted after being forced from their villages in 2012 by a wave of violence led by radical Buddhists and security forces.

"There's still been no movement to ensure Rohingya have equal access to full citizenship," said Matthew Smith, the head of advocacy group Fortify Rights. "Discourse around repatriation now unfortunately appears to be attempt by authorities to distract from mass atrocities and crimes taken place."

UN team, in Bangladesh, vows to work to end Rohingya crisis

April 29, 2018

KUTUPALONG, Bangladesh (AP) — A U.N. Security Council team visiting Bangladesh promised Sunday to work hard to resolve a crisis involving hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled to the country to escape military-led violence in neighboring Myanmar.

The diplomats, who visited the sprawling camps and border points where about 700,000 Rohingya have taken shelter, said their visit was an opportunity to see the situation firsthand. Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyansky, said he and his fellow team members would not look away from the crisis after their visit, though he warned that there are no simple solutions.

"It's very necessary to come and see everything at place here in Bangladesh and Myanmar. But there is no magic solution, there is no magic stick to solve all these issues," he said at a news conference at the Kutupalong refugee camp in the coastal town of Cox's Bazar.

The diplomats will conclude their three-day visit to Bangladesh on Monday, when they leave for Myanmar. The recent spasm of violence in Myanmar began when Rohingya insurgents staged a series of attacks on Aug. 25 on about 30 security outposts and other targets. In a subsequent crackdown described by U.N. and U.S. officials as "ethnic cleansing," Myanmar security forces have been accused of rape, killing, torture and the burning of Rohingya homes. Thousands are believed to have been killed.

The diplomats, comprising representatives from the five permanent Security Council members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — and 10 non-permanent member states, talked to some 120 refugees, including rape victims.

Peru's ambassador to the U.N., Gustavo Adolfo Meza Cuadra Velasqez, said he and his fellow team members were ready to "work hard" and were "very concerned" about the crisis. "I think we have witnessed the magnitude of the refugee crisis and very tragic situation of some of the families," he said.

The refugees are seeking U.N. protection to return home. The U.N. refugee agency and Bangladesh recently finalized a memorandum of understanding that said the repatriation process must be "safe, voluntary and dignified ... in line with international standards."

Karen Pierce, the UK's ambassador to the United Nations, said that the Security Council would continue to work on enabling the refugees to return to Myanmar, but that the Rohingya must be allowed to return under safe conditions.

"The problem there lies in their expulsion, treatment and the fact that they had to flee to Bangladesh," she said. Rohingya are denied citizenship in overwhelmingly Buddhist Myanmar, where they've faced persecution for decades. They're derided as "Bengalis," and many in Myanmar believe they are illegal migrants from Bangladesh. Most of them live in poverty in Myanmar's Rakhine state, next to Bangladesh.

Thousands of refugees gathered amid scorching heat at the Kutupalong camp to welcome the visiting delegation. They carried placards, some of which read "We want justice." "We are not Bengali, we are Rohingya. They have killed my family members, they tortured us, they will kill us again," said one of the refugees, 29-year-old Mohammed Tayab, standing in front of a tent where he was waiting to meet the U.N. team.

Tayab, who was using crutches, said he was shot by Myanmar troops in his right leg. He said he lost a brother, an uncle and a nephew after Myanmar soldiers shot them dead. "I am here to talk to them, we want justice from them," he said of the diplomats. "I will tell them my stories. They should listen to us."

EU prepares new Myanmar sanctions over Rohingya crackdown

February 26, 2018

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union foreign ministers have tasked the EU's top diplomat with drawing up a list of sanctions to slap on senior Myanmar military officers over rights abuses against the Rohingya minority.

The ministers on Monday also ordered EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to propose ways to toughen an EU embargo blocking the provision of arms and equipment that could be used for internal repression.

They said the measures are needed "in light of the disproportionate use of force and widespread and systematic grave human rights violations committed by the military and security forces." About 700,000 Rohingya have fled towns and villages in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state since August to escape a military crackdown.

Negotiations for their return are underway but many fear their safety and well-being are not guaranteed.

Malaysia sends first aid ship to Rohingya Muslims

03 February 2017 Friday

Malaysia has sent its first ship carrying 2,300 tons of humanitarian goods to Rakhine state in Myanmar to help the persecuted minority Rohingya Muslim community.

Prime Minister Najib Razak in Klang Port attended the send-off of the aid consisting of food, medical supplies and other basic necessities near the capital Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

The mission has been organized by the 1Malaysia Club and the Malaysia Islamic Organizations Consultative Council with the cooperation of Turkiye Diyanet Vakfi Foundation, which is supported by the Turkish government.

Besides Malaysia, nine other countries have contributed to the mission, including France, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Germany, the U.S. and Bangladesh.

Speaking at the event, Razak said the mission is a testament to the unity of Muslim community globally, when it comes to issue of humanitarianism.

"We the Muslims, can no longer bear our Rohingya brothers and sisters being tortured, raped, burnt alive and killed," he said.

"The flotilla flagging off is a very historic event for Malaysia, to be able to lead such a noble humanitarian effort."

Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, who is leading the Food Flotilla for Myanmar mission, told reporters the vessel was expected to reach Yangon in five to six days, depending on weather conditions.

Abdul Rahim said the aid will be handed over to Myanmar's Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Win Myat Aye on arrival at Yangon, after which it will be supplied to the Rohingya community.

The ship will sail to Teknaf, Bangladesh, after unloading in Yangon on the same day to provide aid to Rohingya refugees in that country, Rahim said.

"We are going in a team of 230 volunteers and activists from various non-governmental organizations are part of the mission," he added.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=184184.

Turkey builds orphanage in Bangladesh to host Rohingya children

September 24, 2017

An orphanage, which has been built by a Turkish aid agency and hosts currently 100 Rohingya children, is now preparing to welcome more.

The Turkey-based Yardımeli aid agency in March inaugurated the orphanage complex in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh to provide shelter to 100 Rohingya orphans and give education to 500 local students.

The Yardımeli Darul Hikme Education and Social Complex, which reserves three-floor school building and a mosque, was built on an area of 12,000 square meters (129,166 square feet). The school building has 20 classrooms, five dormitory rooms for orphans and two large halls for social activities.

“All these work we have done here is financed by the compassionate Turkish people,” said Yardımeli’s Bangladesh Coordinator Mehmet Çitil.

“On behalf of Rohingya and people of Bangladesh, I thank all of our brothers and sisters from Turkey and Europe for their support to those who are in need.”

Çitil said that Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) has also took part in meeting needs such as desks and bunk beds.

“Wherever you go in the world, Turkey is now known as a country that is reaching out to needy people…,” he added.

A statement released by the agency on Friday said that 600 families were provided with food supplies in Tamfali refugee camp under the scope of urgent food aid program, urging donors to contribute more since the number of refugees in camps are rising day by day.

It added that the agency is using the complex and 29 affiliated masjids in the region as centers for its aid efforts.

Describing the complex as a “great structure and a great way to obtain better and educated generation”, the school principal Mujib Siraj thanked Turkish government and those who contributed.

Over 1,100 Rohingya children feeling violence in Myanmar have arrived alone in Bangladesh since Aug. 25, according to UNICEF report and other 600,000 Rohingya children could flee to Bangladesh by the end of the year.

These children are at a risk of sexual abuse, human trafficking and psychological trauma.

Since Aug. 25, more than 429,000 Rohingya have crossed from Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine into Bangladesh, according to the UN’s migration agency.

In total, more than 800,000 Rohingya refugees are now believed to be in Bangladesh, including the arrivals since Aug. 25.

The refugees are fleeing a fresh security operation in which security forces and Buddhist mobs have killed men, women and children, looted homes and torched Rohingya villages. According to Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali, around 3,000 Rohingya have been killed in the crackdown.

Turkey has been at the forefront of providing aid to Rohingya refugees and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan raised the issue with the UN.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world’s most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

Source: Jasarat.
Link: http://en.jasarat.com/2017/09/24/turkey-builds-orphanage-in-bangladesh-to-host-rohingya-children/.

Turkey to build shelters for 100,000 Rohingya

September 24, 2017

Turkey would build shelters for 100,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, an official of Turkey’s state-run aid body said on Sunday.

According to a press release, Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency’s (TIKA) Bangladesh Coordinator Ahmet Refik Cetinkaya held a meeting with Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya.

“Turkey will soon provide 10,000 packets of aid [to Rohingya Muslims],” Cetinkaya told the minister.

He said Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Recep Akdag would visit Bangladesh.

Since August 25, more than 429,000 Rohingya have crossed from Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine into Bangladesh, according to the UN’s migration agency. In total, more than 800,000 Rohingya refugees are now believed to be in Bangladesh, including the arrivals since August 25.

The refugees are fleeing a fresh security operation in which security forces and Buddhist mobs have killed men, women and children, looted homes and torched Rohingya villages. According to Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali, around 3,000 Rohingya have been killed in the crackdown.

Turkey has been at the forefront of providing aid to Rohingya refugees and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the issue with the UN.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world’s most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170924-turkey-to-build-shelters-for-100000-rohingya/.

Amnesty: Myanmar army killed at least hundreds of Rohingya

October 18, 2017

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar security forces killed hundreds of men, women and children during a systematic campaign to expel Rohingya Muslims, Amnesty International said in a new report Wednesday that calls for an arms embargo on the country and criminal prosecution of the perpetrators.

More than 580,000 refugees have arrived in Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when Myanmar security forces began a scorched-earth campaign against Rohingya villages. Myanmar's government has said it was responding to attacks by Muslim insurgents, but the United Nations and others have said the response was disproportionate.

The continuing exodus of Rohingya Muslims has become a major humanitarian crisis and sparked international condemnation of Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which still denies atrocities are taking place. Based on interviews with more than 120 fleeing Rohingya, Amnesty International said at least hundreds of people were killed by security forces who surrounded villages, shot fleeing inhabitants and then set buildings alight, burning to death the elderly, sick and disabled who were unable to flee.

In some villages, women and girls were raped or subjected to other sexual violence, according to the report. The witnesses repeatedly described an insignia on their attackers' uniforms that matched one worn by troops from Myanmar's Western Command, Amnesty International said.

When shown various insignia used by Myanmar's army, witnesses consistently picked out the Western Command patch, it said. The 33rd Light Infantry Division and border police, who wear a distinctive blue camouflage uniform, were also frequently involved in attacks on villages, along with Buddhist vigilante mobs, witnesses said.

Matthew Wells, an Amnesty crisis researcher who spent several weeks at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, said the rights group plans to issue another report in the coming months examining individual criminal responsibility, including specific commanders and others that may be involved in abuses.

He said hundreds of Rohingya have been treated for gunshot wounds and doctors say that the injuries are consistent with people being shot from behind as they fled. There were credible indications that a total of several hundred people had been killed in just five villages that were the focus of Amnesty's reporting. Wells said that given that dozens of villages across northern Rakhine State have been targeted in a similar fashion, the death toll could be much higher.

He said satellite imagery, corroborated by witness accounts, show that Rohingya homes and mosques have been burned entirely in villages, while non-Rohingya areas just one or two hundred yards (meters) away were untouched.

"It speaks to how organized, how seemingly well-planned this scorched-earth campaign has been by the Myanmar military and how determined the effort has been to drive the Rohingya population out of the country," Wells said.

Among almost two dozen recommendations, the human rights group called for the U.N. Security Council to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Myanmar and financial sanctions against senior officials responsible for violations that Amnesty says meet the criteria for crimes against humanity.

It said the council should explore options for bringing the perpetrators to justice under international law if Myanmar authorities do not act swiftly. "It is time for the international community to move beyond public outcry and take action to end the campaign of violence that has driven more than half the Rohingya population out of Myanmar," Amnesty said.

Witnesses and a drone video shot Monday by the U.N. refugee agency show that Rohingya are continuing to flee persecution in Myanmar and crossing into Bangladesh. The video showed thousands upon thousands of Rohingya trudging along a narrow strip of land alongside what appears to a rain-swollen creek in the Palong Khali area in southern Bangladesh. The line of refugees stretches for a few kilometers (miles).

The new wave of refugees started crossing the border over the weekend, witnesses said. An Associated Press photographer saw thousands of newcomers near one border crossing Tuesday. Several said that they were stopped by Bangladeshi border guards and spent the night in muddy rice fields.

Nearly 60 percent of the refugees are children. The U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, warned Tuesday that without immediate additional funding, it will not be able to continue providing life-saving aid and protection to Rohingya children. UNICEF said it has received just 7 percent of the $76 million it needs.

On Aug. 25, a Rohingya insurgent group known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacked at least 30 security posts on Aug. 25, causing dozens of casualties, according to Myanmar authorities. The brutal attacks against Rohingya that followed have been described by the U.N. as "textbook ethnic cleansing."

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has denied citizenship for the Rohingya since 1982 and excludes them from the 135 ethnic groups officially recognized, which effectively renders them stateless. They have long faced discrimination and persecution with many Buddhists in Myanmar calling them "Bengalis" and saying they migrated illegally from Bangladesh, even though they have lived in the country for generations.

AP journalists Matthew Pennington and Dar Yasin in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh contributed to this report.

UN: Myanmar violence a deliberate strategy to expel Rohingya

October 12, 2017

GENEVA (AP) — A report by the U.N. human rights office says attacks against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar point to a strategy to instill "widespread fear and trauma" and prevent them from ever returning to their homes.

The report released Wednesday is based on 65 interviews conducted in mid-September with Rohingya, individually and in groups, as more the half a million people from the ethnic group fled into Bangladesh during a violent crackdown in Myanmar.

The attacks against Rohingya in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state by security forces and Buddhist mobs were "coordinated and systematic," with the intent of not only driving the population out of Myanmar but preventing them from returning, the report said.

Some of those interviewed said that before and during attacks, megaphones were used to announce: "You do not belong here — go to Bangladesh. If you do not leave, we will torch your houses and kill you."

According to the U.N. researchers, measures against the minority group began almost a month before the Aug. 25 attacks on police posts by Muslim militants that served as a pretext for what Myanmar's military called "clearance operations" in Rakhine.

"Information we have received indicates that days and up to a month before the 25th of August, that the Myanmar security forces imposed further restrictions on access to markets, medical clinics, schools and religious sites," Karin Friedrich, who was part of the U.N. mission to Bangladesh, said at a news conference. "Rohingya men aged 15 to 40 were reportedly arrested by the Myanmar police" and detained without any charges, she said.

U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said the Myanmar government's denial of rights, including citizenship, to the Rohingya appeared to be part of "a cynical ploy to forcibly transfer large numbers of people without possibility of return." He has also described the systematic attacks and widespread burning of villages as "textbook ethnic cleansing."

The report said efforts were made to "effectively erase signs of memorable landmarks" in Rohingya areas to make the landscape unrecognizable. Myanmar's Buddhist majority denies that Rohingya Muslims are a separate ethnic group and regards them as illegal immigrants.

Saudi Arabia allocates $15m for Rohingya refugees

September 19, 2017

Saudi Arabia’s monarch King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud has ordered the allocation of $15 million to alleviate the suffering of Rohingya Muslims who fled persecution in Rakhine state of Myanmar.

The Saudi Royal court adviser and general supervisor of the Riyadh-based King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid, Dr Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabiah, “a specialized team from the center will be heading to Bangladesh within the coming few hours to make an assessment of the condition of Rohingya refugees there and to find out what are the essential requirements that are to be made available to them urgently, as well as to extend assistance in terms of relief, humanitarian help and shelter.”

“As per the directive of the King, the center has carried out a number of projects, while some others are in various phases of implementation,” he added.

The Saudi cabinet, during its weekly meeting, condemned the violent acts practiced against the Muslims in Myanmar.

The cabinet renewed the Kingdom’s calls to the international community to take urgent action to stop the violent acts and to give the Muslim minority in Myanmar their rights without discrimination or racial classification.

The government noted that Riyadh had offered the Rakhine state’s Muslims a $50-million aid and had hosted them on its land since the year 1948.

For generations, Rohingya Muslims have called Myanmar home. Now, in what appears to be a systematic purge, they are being wiped off the map.

After a series of attacks by the country’s Muslim militants last month, security forces and allied mobs retaliated by burning down thousands of homes in the enclaves of the predominantly Buddhist nation where the Rohingya live.

This has led to some 410,000 people fleeing to the neighboring Bangladesh, according to UN estimates, joining tens of thousands of others who have fled over the past year.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170919-saudi-arabia-allocates-15m-for-rohingya-refugees/.

Sri Lankan monk among 7 jailed for attack on Rohingya

October 02, 2017

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankan authorities have arrested seven people, including at least one Buddhist monk, suspected of storming a United Nations safe house for Rohingya Muslim refugees last week.

Monk Akmeenmana Dayaratana and another suspect were arrested Monday and ordered to remain behind bars until at least Oct. 9, said police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara. He said the other five suspects were arrested and remanded over the weekend.

They are accused of being among dozens of protesters from Sri Lanka's majority Buddhist community, including monks, who stormed a safe house on the outskirts of Colombo where 31 Rohingya Muslims who fled Myanmar, including 17 children, had been living since arriving in the country in April. The monks claimed the refugees were terrorists and demanded they be returned to Myanmar, prompting police to move the refugees to another location.

Video posted on Facebook by a nationalist group, the Sinhala National Movement, shows protesters calling Rohingya "terrorists who killed Buddhists in Myanmar" and saying that they can't live in Sri Lanka.

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said in a news release that it was alarmed by the attack. Sri Lankan government leaders also condemned it, describing it as a "shameful act," and calling for strong action against the perpetrators.

Sri Lanka Buddhists make up 70 percent of the island's 20 million people, while Muslims account for 10 percent. More than half-a-million Rohingya have fled from the region to Bangladesh in just over a month, making it the largest refugee crisis to hit Asia in decades. The latest violence began when a Rohingya insurgent group launched deadly attacks on security posts Aug. 25, prompting Myanmar's military to launch "clearance operations."

Rohingya have long faced persecution and discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where the government denies them citizenship and considers them illegal immigrants. Extremist Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka have ties with their counterparts in Myanmar and monks in both countries have been accused of leading attacks on minority Muslims.

Bangladesh leader visits Rohingya refugees, assures help

September 12, 2017

UKHIYA, Bangladesh (AP) — The Bangladeshi prime minister on Tuesday visited a struggling refugee camp that has absorbed some of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who fled recent violence in Myanmar — a crisis she said left her speechless.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina demanded that Myanmar "take steps to take their nationals back," and assured temporary aid until that happened. "We will not tolerate injustice," she said at a rally at the Kutupalong refugee camp, near the border town of Ukhiya in Cox's Bazar district.

On Monday night, she lambasted Buddhist-majority Myanmar for "atrocities" that she said had reached a level beyond description, telling lawmakers she had "no words to condemn Myanmar" and noting that Bangladesh had long been protesting the persecution of Rohingya Muslims.

At least 313,000 Rohingya have flooded into Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when Rohingya insurgents attacked police posts, prompting Myanmar's military to retaliate with what it called "clearance operations" to root out the rebels.

The crisis has drawn sharp criticism from around the world. Germany has halted several aid projects with Myanmar in protest, and Iran's Supreme Leader called the killing of Muslims a political disaster for Myanmar. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also urged other Muslim countries Tuesday to "increase political, economic and commercial pressures" on Myanmar to stop the violence.

The U.N. human rights chief said Myanmar's ethnic Rohingya minority was facing what "seems a textbook example of ethnic cleansing." U.N. rights investigators have been barred from entering the country.

"The Myanmar government should stop pretending that the Rohingya are setting fire to their own homes and laying waste to their own villages," Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said Monday in Geneva, calling it a "complete denial of reality."

Meanwhile, a Rohingya villager in Myanmar said security forces had arrived Monday in the village of Pa Din village, firing guns, setting new fires to homes and driving hundreds of Rohingya to flee. "People were scared and running out of the village," the villager said, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety.

Myanmar police disputed that, saying the houses were burned by terrorists they called Bengalis. That term is used derisively by many in Myanmar to describe the Rohingya, who they say migrated illegally from neighboring Bangladesh, though many Rohingya families have lived in Myanmar for generations.

Bangladesh has said it would free 2,000 acres (810 hectares) of land for a new camp in Cox's Bazar district, to help shelter newly arrived Rohingya. The government was also fingerprinting and registering new arrivals.

Kutupalong and another pre-existing Rohingya camps were already beyond capacity. Other new arrivals were staying in schools, or huddling in makeshift settlements with no toilets along roadsides and in open fields.

Basic resources were scarce, including food, clean water and medical aid. Aid agencies have been overwhelmed by the influx of Rohingya, many of whom are arriving hungry and traumatized after walking days through jungles or being packed into rickety wooden boats in search of safety in Bangladesh.

Many tell similar stories - of Myanmar soldiers firing indiscriminately on their villages, burning their homes and warning them to leave or to die. Some say they were attacked by Buddhist mobs. In the last two weeks, the government hospital in Cox's Bazar has been overwhelmed by Rohingya patients, with 80 arriving in the last two weeks suffering gunshot wounds as well as bad infections.

At least three Rohingya have been wounded in land mine blasts, and dozens have drowned when boats capsized during sea crossings. Myanmar's authorities said more than a week ago that some 400 Rohingya - mostly insurgents - had died in clashes with troops, but it has offered no updated death toll since.

Rohingya have faced decades of discrimination and persecution in Myanmar and are denied citizenship despite centuries-olds roots in the Rakhine region. Before Aug. 25, Bangladesh had already been housing some 500,000 Rohingya who arrived after bloody anti-Muslim rioting in 2012 or amid earlier persecution drives in Myanmar.

AP writers Julhas Alam in Dhaka, Bangladesh.