In the aftermath of violence this month in western Myanmar that has left scores of people dead, the authorities are facing mounting pressure to lift a weekslong military lockdown that advocacy groups say has trapped Muslims in their communities and largely prevented aid workers from helping them.
People in the northern part of Rakhine State have watched the Myanmar Army and the border police loot shops, rape women, burn homes and Qurans, and shoot unarmed people in the days and weeks since an attack this month on a guard post near the Bangladeshi border killed nine police officers, rights activists say. The United Nations, in a statement on Monday, urged the government to address “growing reports of human rights violations” in the area.
The violence this month has largely affected members of the Rohingya ethnic group, a stateless Muslim minority with roughly one million members in Rakhine State. The Rohingya have been unable to obtain Myanmar citizenship, even though many of their families have lived in the country for generations. (Courtesy of nytimes.com)
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