In Burma there is a dominance of the largest ethnic group, the Burman or Bamar people over the country's minorities. This was the cause of many conflicts over the years. The UN recognizes the Rohingya Muslim minority as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. They are denied citizenship despite tracing their roots to Myanmar for generations. Government policies target Rohingya on the basis of their ethnicity and religion. These people are subject to policies of oppression which are applied almost exclusively to them.
John McKissick of the UN refugee agency has stated that Myanmar is seeking the ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya minority from its territory. He said the Myanmar military and Border Guard Police had engaged in collective punishment of the Rohingya minority after the murders of nine border guards on 9 October last year which some politicians blamed on a Rohingya militant group. He said that Security forces have been killing men, shooting them, slaughtering children, raping women, burning and looting houses, forcing these people to cross the river. (Myanmar wants ethnic cleansing of Rohingya - UN official)
The latest conflict started on 25 August when Rohingya militants attacked police posts. The government said it launched “clearance operations” which initially killed 77 Rohingya people.
After that, villages were burned down, which according to the Burmese government was done by The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) militants and Rohingya villagers themselves. They haven't provided any evidence to support those claims. Similar allegations were made during the burning of Rohingya areas between October 2016 and December 2016. Human Rights Watch has determined that Burmese security forces deliberately set those fires. There is new satellite data that shows widespread burnings in northern parts of Burma’s Rakhine state.
"The fear was palpable among those I met who have recently escaped into Bangladesh. In fact, hundreds upon hundreds have been pouring across every border crossing. In the 20 minutes I was at just one of the many Naf crossings, I counted several hundred people enter Bangladesh – from mothers with babies to the elderly and infirm. One young man said that he feared a further violent crackdown: “Now all we have are empty villages without even the men. We sent our women and children out, but now we had to leave as well.”" (Watching Burma in Flames from Bangladesh)
Aung San Suu Kyi was criticized for days, for staying silent during this time. In a phone call with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, she said that her government is protecting everyone in Rakhine state and that there is a "huge iceberg of misinformation" about the conflict promoting the interests of terrorists.
The latest estimate from UN agencies is that more than a quarter-million refugees have arrived on the border of Bangladesh in the last two weeks. Prior to this, Bangladesh was already hosting nearly 34,000 registered Rohingya refugees in Kutupalong and Nayapara camps, as well as several hundred thousand undocumented Rohingya living in makeshift sites and local villages.
"Those who have made it to Bangladesh are in poor condition. Most have walked for days from their villages – hiding in jungles, crossing mountains and rivers with what they could salvage from their homes. They are hungry, weak and sick." (Bangladesh: Life-saving assistance needed as Rohingya influx surges)
UNHCR, with their partners, are working with the local authorities to deliver relief supplies: Clothes, plastic sheets for shelter and sleeping mats. NGO partners and refugee volunteers are strengthening referral systems so that the new arrivals know where they can get critical services and aid. They are also identifying vulnerable arrivals, like unaccompanied children, who need additional care and protection.
Humanitarian supplies are scarce. Aid workers say the available high-energy biscuits won’t cover the new arrivals. Here are some details gathered from United Nations’ sources working in the Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh:
- Aid workers operating in the area say resources including materials for emergency shelters, safe water and food are urgently needed and extreme overcrowding in the existing makeshift settlements remains a major problem. The fluid movement of refugees also makes it difficult to identify new arrivals.
- With another 10,000 people currently trapped in no-man’s land between the two countries, they expect more people to cross the border than during the crisis in the fall of last year, when more than 70,000 people made the journey.
- The stock of high-energy biscuits is not sufficient to feed all the new arrivals, and funding for rice to cover people who have crossed since October “may be problematic”.
- Among new arrivals, about 16,000 are school-age children and more than 5,000 are under the age of five who need vaccine coverage. The number of unaccompanied and separated children is high and many are found “traumatized and hungry” and in need of immediate dry food and psycho-social support.
- Current capacity of emergency education facilities is only enough to cover 5,000 children and an additional 500 schools or learning centres are needed.
- To prevent abuses, they say awareness on subjects including child labour, sexual and gender-based violence and human trafficking is needed among the communities.
- Worsened hygiene due to mass influx increases the risk of outbreak of diseases, with pregnant women, young children or the elderly being most vulnerable.
- Sanitation and access to safe water is a concern especially at the no man’s land with no facilities.
Source: Factbox: Humanitarian crisis hits Bangladesh as nearly 60,000 Rohingya flee Myanmar
Ways top help?
2. You can donate to Action Against Hunger: HELP US SAVE LIVES IN MYANMAR AND AROUND THE WORLD
3. One Nation has been working on the borders of Bangladesh and Burma since December last year, and they have launched a renewed appeal for donations: EMERGENCY ROHINGYA APPEAL 2017
4. Human Appeal is also working on the ground. Their donation page: Myanmar Emergency Appeal
5. Muslim Aid is another organization on the ground. You can donate here: DONATE TO MUSLIM AID
6. Partners Relief And Development works in communities touched by war to help the children affected. They also have a donation page and will match the amount donated: #SaveTheRohingya
7. Write to your MP and ask them to raise the issue in Parliament, and urge them to commit funding to the relief effort.
8. Sign the petition: Urge the UN & Muslim World to protect Rohingya Muslims in Burma
"The tragedy facing the Rohingya is multifaceted, and will require tremendous resolve to remedy. It demands the world’s attention, and fast."
