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Rohingya persecution in Myanmar

Location of Rakhine State in Myanmar
Date	9 October 2016 (2016-10-09) – present
Location	Northern Rakhine State, Myanmar
Outcome	Ongoing sporadic attacks on Myanmar's security forces by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army Forced relocation of Rohingyas 650,000 refugees fled abroad (since 25 August 2017)
Deaths	10,000+
Publication bans	Media access in northern Rakhine State heavily restricted by the Myanmar government.

2017 Rohingya persecution in Myanmar occurred in August–October period of the year when the Myanmar military forces and local Buddhist extremists began atrocities against the Rohingya people in the country’s north-west Rakhine state. The 2017 persecution has frequently been termed as “ethnic cleansing” against the Rohingya Muslims. Médecins Sans Frontières estimated that more than 6700 Rohingya including 730 children were killed in August 2017 alone. On December 5, 2017 the United Nations' human rights chief, Zeid bin Ra'ad, announced that the Rohingya persecution may constitute genocide under international human rights laws. Rex Tillerson, United States Secretary of State, declared that the action of the Myanmarese authorities constitute ethnic cleansing. Subsequently, in November 2017, the governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a deal to facilitate the return of Rohingya refugees to their native Rakhine state within two months, drawing a mixed response from international onlookers.

Background

The government announced on 25 August 2017 that 71 people (one soldier, one immigration officer, 10 policemen and 59 insurgents) had been killed overnight during coordinated attacks by up to 150 insurgents on 24 police posts and the 552nd Light Infantry Battalion army base in Rakhine State. The Myanmar Army stated that the attack began at around 1:00 AM, when insurgents armed with bombs, small arms weapons and machetes blew up a bridge. The army further stated that a majority of the attacks occurred around 3:00 AM to 4:00 AM. The ARSA claimed they were taking "defensive actions" in 25 different locations and accused government soldiers of raping and killing civilians. The group also claimed that Rathedaung had been under a blockade for more than two weeks, starving the Rohingya, and that the government forces were preparing to do the same in Maungdaw. According to Yanghee Lee, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Myanmar, at least 1,000 people had been killed in the violence since 25 August. She added that the figure is "very likely an underestimate".

Persecution and clearance operations

Soon after the attack on security forces, the Myanmar military responded with “heavy counter-offensive”, and supported by Buddhist militia, started “clearance operations” against the Rohingya people. In the first week, at least 130 Rohingya people were killed. To save lives, the Rohingya people started fleeing Myanmar in large numbers, and tried to take shelter in the neighboring Bangladesh. The Myanmar military often opened fire with mortar shells and machine-guns on the fleeing Rohingya women and children, and dead bodies of many Rohingya people began to be washed ashore from the drowned boats as they attempted to cross the Naf River to enter Bangladesh. By the second week, at least 1000 Rohingya were killed.

Human Rights Watch in August 2017 said that satellite images showed widespread burning in 10 areas in northern Rakhine. While the causes of the fires could not be determined, the group said that it "compared the locations of these fires with witness statements it has collected and media reports, and found a correlation with some reported incidents where residences have allegedly been deliberately burned." Chris Lewa, director of The Arakan Project, has blamed the security forces of burning village after village in a systematic way while also blaming Rohingya arsonists of burning the Buddhist village of Pyu Ma. There were also reports of mass killings of Rohingyas by the military and Buddhist vigilantes in Chut Pyin village near Rathedaung. Lewa stated that they had received reports of 130 being killed in the village.

A video provided to ABC News by a human rights monitor purportedly shows the village burning and in another clip of freshly dug earth mound, allegedly graves of those killed. On September 7, 2017, The Guardian reported a mass killing of Rohingyas at the Tula Toli village, referred as Tula Toli Massacre.

Near Rangoon on December 12, 2017, two Reuters journalists who had been covering the refugee story were charged and imprisoned by the police for violating a 1923 colonial law related to secrecy.

According to the Mission report of OHCHR (released on 11 October 2017 by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights), the Myanmar military in early August 2017 began a "systematic" process of driving hundreds of thousands of Rohingya from Myanmar. The report noted that "prior to the incidents and crackdown of 25 August, a strategy was pursued to:

• Arrest and arbitrarily detain male Rohingyas between the ages of 15–40 years;
• Arrest and arbitrarily detain Rohingya opinion-makers, leaders and cultural and religious personalities;
• Initiate acts to deprive Rohingya villagers of access to food, livelihoods and other means of conducting daily activities and life;
• Commit repeated acts of humiliation and violence prior to, during and after 25 August, to drive out Rohingya villagers en masse through incitement to hatred, violence and killings, including by declaring the Rohingyas as Bengalis and illegal settlers in Myanmar;
• Instill deep and widespread fear and trauma – physical, emotional and psychological, in the Rohingya victims via acts of brutality, namely killings, disappearances, torture, and rape and other forms of sexual violence.

Refugee crisis

As a result of the autumn 2017 military "clearance operations" and reprisals, about 400,000 Rohingya people (about a third of the Rohingya population) had fled or had been driven out of Rakhine state – most fleeing to Bangladesh, as of mid-September 2017. By October 2017, an estimated 536,000 Rohingya Muslims had fled Myanmar since 25 August incident, and took shelter in the neighboring Bangladesh as refugees. In November 2017, the government of Bangladesh signed a pact with their Myanmarese counterparts to return the Rohingya refugees to their homes in the Rakhine territory. The deal arose following a diplomatic meeting on the matter between Aung San Suu Kyi and Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali, the foreign minister of Bangladesh. The accord was viewed by international commentators as a conscious effort by the de facto Myanmarese leader to address criticism over her lack of action in the conflict. This decision, coming after both the United Nations and Rex Tillerson, US Secretary of State, declared that the actions undertaken by the Burmese army against the Rohingya refugees constituted ethnic cleansing, was met with hesitation and criticism by aid groups.

Criticism and reactions

The 2017 persecution against the Rohingya people garnered strong criticism from all across the world, and created grave concern about the human rights issues. Soon after the security forces and Buddhist militia started “clearance operations”, the world leaders warned the Myanmar authority to avoid civilian casualties. As in 2016 incident of Rohingya persecution, the de facto head of government of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi was again criticized her silence over the issue and for supporting the military actions.

Nations

Holy See

At the Vatican, Sunday, August 26, 2017, Pope Francis referred to "sad news about the persecution of the religious minority of our Rohingya brothers," adding that he was praying that they would receive "full rights". The pope undertook a diplomatic visit to the afflicted area in late November 2017, demanding that the international community "take decisive measures to address this grave crisis."

Indonesia

Protests erupted against the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta, with a petrol bomb being thrown towards it. Indonesian president Joko Widodo sent foreign minister Retno Marsudi for "intensive communications" in September 2017, mentioning that concrete actions are required. Aid in form of tents, basic food and sanitation supplies were dispatched to refugee camps in Bangladesh through four Indonesian Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules.

United States

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, on September 14, 2017, said that Myanmar faces a "defining moment," adding:

"I think it is important that the global community speak out in support of what we all know the expectation is for the treatment of people regardless of their ethnicity... This violence must stop, this persecution must stop."

China

On 17 November 2017, China announced that it is sending its Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Myanmar and Bangladesh in a bid to shore up Beijing’s influence in the region and mediate in the deepening Rohingya refugee crisis .

Supranational bodies

United Nations

With the renewed genocide and exodus in August 2017, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Jordanian prince Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said that what Rohingyas were experiencing in Myanmar "seems a textbook example of ethnic cleansing", supported by condemnation from UN experts such as Yanghee Lee. This is further confirmed by UN High Commissioner for Refugees with the stipulated number of refugees in Bangladesh estimated at 700,000. On 4 October 2017, the Myanmar authorities were asked by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) “to immediately stop violence in northern Rakhine State, and to promptly and effectively investigate and vigorously prosecute cases of violence against women and children.”

ASEAN

The ASEAN member states have upheld a principle of non-interference in intra-ASEAN relations. A day before the 30th ASEAN Summit was held on April 26, 2017, Reuters reported on the Myanmar military’s operations on the Rohingya in November 2016. Nonetheless, the Rohingya crisis was not on the official agenda in the Summit.

However, leaders of ASEAN countries have begun concerns on the issue. In a meeting with other ASEAN foreign ministers on December 19, 2016, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman called for a collective effort to resolve the crisis. In addition, in the 30th ASEAN Summit, Indonesian President Joko Widodo discussed the issue of the Rohingya crisis with Aung San Suu Kyi, the Myanmar’s de facto leader. He was said to stress the importance of stability in Myanmar for the wider regional security.

The ASEAN states' hesitance to comment on the issue may be explained by a concern that the rise of China and its influence in Myanmar could risk ASEAN's interest in the country. Azeem Ibrahim, the author of The Rohingyas: Inside Myanmar's Hidden Genocide, noted, “Myanmar’s interactions with ASEAN are perhaps indicative of its wider approach to international relations.” While ASEAN member states welcome economic opportunities with China’s rise, they fear its growing influence. It has been suggested that ASEAN criticism of Myanmar’s domestic crisis will lead to closer ties between China and Myanmar.

NGOs

According to Matthew Smith of the NGO Fortify Rights, “We can now say with a high level of confidence that state-led security forces and local armed residents have committed mass killings.” Smith accused the Burmese military of trying to expel all Rohingyas from the country.

Others

Muslim protests were held in various capital cities in Asian countries in late November 2016. Protests were held on September 8, 2017 across Asia in Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Pakistan in solidarity of the Rohingya people. Protests were also held by Rohingya people in Melbourne, Australia in early September 2017. Additional protests were held in the same month in Washington DC in the United States, Cape Town in South Africa, and Jammu and Kashmir in India. A protest was also planned in Hong Kong.

References

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• 2017 in Myanmar