Tag: Aung San Suu Kyi

Human Rights Watch: 3 Rohingya Villages Burned Down In Myanmar

Satellite images show that several Rohingya village in Myanmar’s Rakhine State have been burned to the ground in recent weeks, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Saturday.

The New York-based rights group 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 HRW, the damage took place in the villages of Pyaung Pyit, Kyet Yoe Pyin, and Wa Peik.

The allegations come at a time of heightened tensions between the authorities and the ethnic Rohingya community that has seen the government arm non-Muslim civilians in Rakhine and renewed crackdowns on the Rohingya.

Troops started pouring into Maungdaw in October after the killings of nine border policein three attacks along the country’s northwestern border with Bangladesh.

Security crackdowns have led to at least 3,000 Buddhist Rakhine fleeing their homes in Maungdaw township, with dozens of fighters allegedly being killed in the fighting.

Most people in the area are Muslim Rohingya, a stateless minority whom Buddhist nationalists vilify as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh – even though many have lived in Myanmar for generations.

Source: www.aljazeera.com

November 20, 2016
Penghapusan Bangsa Rohingya Di Myanmar

Maungdaw 15 Nov. – Operasi penghapusan bangsa etnik Rohingya terus dilancarkan pasukan keselamatan Myanmar apabila jumlah korban ketegangan baharu di negeri Rakhine dalam kejadian kelmarin yang masih berterusan meningkat kepada lebih 100 orang.

Penderitaan dialami penduduk minoriti Islam di Myanmar itu didedahkan di blog RB News memandangkan media asing tidak dibenarkan memasuki Rakhine sejak keadaan di negeri tersebut tidak menentu bulan lalu.

Menurut penduduk, tentera menggempur beberapa buah kampung di utara Maungdaw pada pukul 6.30 pagi kelmarin, memaksa penghuni keluar atau mereka akan ditembak jika enggan berbuat demikian.

Semua rumah kemudian ditembak dengan meriam sebelum terbakar.

Seorang saksi berkata, semua 700 buah rumah di Kampung Dar Gyi Sar musnah sepenuhnya.

Selain membakar rumah, anggota tentera turut mencampak kanak-kanak Rohingya yang masih hidup ke dalam api sehingga rentung dengan si ibu hanya mampu memandang tanpa berbuat apa-apa.

Kekejaman tentera Myanmar tidak berakhir di situ apabila mereka dilapor turut melepaskan tembakan ke arah penduduk Rohingya yang mahu melarikan diri termasuk kanak-kanak.

Difahamkan, pasukan tentera itu masih menggempur kedudukan penduduk Rohingya atas alasan ‘memburu’ penyerang yang membunuh anggota mereka.

Bagaimanapun, jumlah kematian sebenar masih tidak dapat dipastikan kerana banyak penduduk terutamanya lelaki ditahan tentera.

Sekurang-kurangnya 5,000 penduduk dilapor hilang tempat tinggal sejak kelmarin tanpa tempat berlindung dan makanan.

Kejadian terbaharu itu dikhuatiri mencetuskan semula krisis kemanusiaan membabitkan etnik Rohingya sama seperti yang berlaku pada 2012.

Source: www.mapim.org

November 18, 2016
Myanmar Army Fires On Rohingya Villages In Rakhine Region

State media say two soldiers and six attackers died in clashes after an ambush on troops, which led to air support being called in.

There are reports of villages burning in the northern region of Rakhine.

Photos released by Human Rights Watch seem to show charred villages, with the group reporting 430 burnt buildings.

The satellite photos were taken between 22 October and 10 November, following reports of fighting and civilians fleeing last month.

Rohingya activists say the government is trying systematically to drive the Muslim minority from their villages.

Attacking the Rohingya is a popular move for the military, the BBC’s Jonah Fisher reports from Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon.

They are disliked by many, if not most, Burmese who consider them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, our correspondent says.

Media barred

The latest outbreak in fighting was triggered by an attack on three police checkpoints just over a month ago.

The Burmese government is not allowing independent journalists into Rakhine, so it is impossible to verify claims about the scale of the fighting.

According to the latest official statement on Saturday, troops were ambushed and then clashed several times with armed men, presumably Rohingya Muslims, equipped with guns, knives and spears.

At one point, when faced by about 500 men, the soldiers called in air support and two helicopter gunships fired on the Rohingya village.

Casualty figures vary widely, our correspondent says.

Brad Adams, the Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said the new photos showed “widespread destruction” that was “greater than we first thought”.

“Burmese authorities should promptly establish a UN-assisted investigation as a first step toward ensuring justice and security for the victims,” he said.

The government – led by Aung San Suu Kyi – talks of “clearance operations” as part of the search for the attackers.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

November 16, 2016
Aung San Suu Kyi: Keadaan Di Wilayah Rakhine Disiasat

TOKYO: Pemimpin Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi berkata hari ini (4 Nov) siasatan sudah bermula terhadap keadaan di wilayah Rakhine, di mana ramai anggota minoriti Muslim menetap dan juga di mana para pekerja hak asasi manusia berkata konflik di sana membawa kepada penganiayaan awam oleh pihak tentera.

Suu Kyi, bercakap semasa lawatan ke Tokyo, memberitahu sidang media bahawa pemerintah Myanmar tidak cuba menyembunyikan sebarang perkara dan sedang cuba untuk mencari punca masalah itu, dan tidak akan menuduh sesiapa sehingga siasatan selesai dijalankan.

Sebarang tindakan akan dilakukan mengikut proses yang sah di sisi undang-undang, tambah beliau.

Suu Kyi belum lagi memberi komen secara langsung mengenai pakar-pakar hak asasi manusia yang menggesa pemerintah Myanmar untuk menyiasat dakwaan-dakwaan penganiayaan.

Ini termasuklah insiden rogol dan pembunuhan, atau mengenai kenyataan-kenyataan dikeluarkan para pemantau hak asasi manusia, walaupun beliau sudah menggesa pihak tentera untuk mengawal tindakan mereka.

Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

November 5, 2016
New Fears Of Communal Violence In Myanmar

NINE police officers were killed early on October 9th in a series of apparently co-ordinated attacks on border-guard posts in the troubled state of Rakhine in Myanmar’s west. The attackers were armed with knives, slingshots and only a few guns—and reportedly made off with dozens more guns and thousands of bullets. The Buddhist majority in Rakhine has long oppressed the state’s Muslim Rohingyas. Now the victims may be starting to fight back.

Nobody has yet claimed responsibility, but police say the attackers—at least two of whom were captured and eight killed—were Rohingyas. One local official blamed the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation, a militant group that has been dormant for decades. The two who were detained reportedly told authorities that they planned the raids with fellow locals.

The central government’s response has been reasonably level-headed. On the same day it held a press conference to appeal for caution and restraint. Two days later it dispatched high-ranking officials to talk to local leaders in the Muslim-majority townships where the attacks took place. Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s de facto leader, did not cast blame, but reiterated her commitment to “peace and stability”. “Rakhine State’s problem is Myanmar’s problem,” said the information minister.

Since the attacks in northern Rakhine, however, clashes have broken out there leaving at least a dozen people dead—including unarmed civilians, according to locals. The government has beefed up an already heavy military presence. Some worry that the stolen guns will be used in future attacks on security forces, or that in trying to retrieve the weapons, the police will target innocents.

By far the biggest concern is that unrest could spread, as it did in 2012, when communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims killed scores and displaced tens of thousands. Many outside Myanmar have criticised Miss Suu Kyi for failing to speak up for the Rohingyas. Anti-Muslim sentiment runs deep among the Burman Buddhist majority. Wirathu, a virulently nationalist monk and master of social media, posted a video on his Facebook page this week that he claims shows the attackers calling for Rohingyas to join the jihad.

In August Miss Suu Kyi invited Kofi Annan, a former UN secretary-general, to head a commission investigating human-rights abuses in Rakhine. Buddhist nationalists protested, and the Rakhine parliament passed a resolution condemning the commission. But as this week’s events have shown, efforts to bring about a just and durable peace in Rakhine are more urgent than ever.

Source: www.economist.com

October 15, 2016