October 20, 2016

UN calls for protecting civilians as fighting, though reduced, continues in north-west Myanmar

Even though fighting between security forces and a group, identified by the Government as the Aqa mul moujahideen, in some villages on the outskirts of Maungdaw township in Myanmar’s Northern Rakhine province appear to have reduced in severity, an atmosphere of fear and tension continues to grip the local population, a spokesperson for the United Nations said today.

“While deploring the attacks on the security forces and noting their sober response to these attacks, we continue to underline the importance of caution to avoid any loss of innocent lives or damage to properties of the local population from the continuing operations against the attackers,” UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told journalists during the daily press briefing at UN Headquarters in New York.

“We also note the strong commitment expressed by the Government in upholding the rule of law, proceeding against the perpetrators in accordance with proper judicial process and guarding against any looting, provocation or hatred among the people or incitement to communal violence,” he added. (Courtesy of un.org)

In Western Myanmar, a Lockdown and Fears of More Violence

More than a week after attacks on police officers began a wave of bloodshed in western Myanmar, a lockdown by security forces has prevented aid workers from operating in the area, and new videos of what appear to be local Muslims calling for resistance have raised fears of more violence.

Maj. Gen. Aung Soe, the deputy minister for home affairs, told reporters on Monday in Naypyidaw, the capital, that 30 attackers had been killed in Rakhine State since the Oct. 9 assaults on three border posts that left nine police officers dead. Activists from the Rohingya ethnic group, a persecuted Muslim minority who number more than a million in Rakhine, have accused the security forces of waging a counterinsurgency campaign against civilians, and they have circulated photos that they say show security forces burning Rohingya homes.

Neither the government’s nor the activists’ version of events could be independently verified. But an advocacy group, Fortify Rights, recently said that it had interviewed witnesses who described what appeared to be extrajudicial killings by the military. (Courtesy of nytimes.com)

Burmese Military Continue to Commit Serious Crimes against Rohingya

The Burmese military have been continuously committing serious crimes against the Rohingya civilians such as extrajudicial killings, plunders, arbitrary arrests and tortures; and rapes against their women since October 9, although they have scaled down openly firing on civilians and burning down their (the civilians’) homes in last few days, a local source said.

It has been reported that yesterday (i.e. 19th October) morning, around 30 military personnel along with other 15 Rakhine youths raided the southern hamlet of MaungNama (MonDama) village tract in northern Maungdaw. During the raid from 10:30 AM to 4:00 PM yesterday, the military committed all kinds of atrocities against the villagers.

“The Rakhine (Magh) youths from ‘Aung Mingala’ village already came to ‘MaungNama’ with bags. They plundered and put everything in their bags; right from rice to onions. They pulled away ornaments from the bodies of the women. Literally, they plundered each and everything.(Courtesy of rvisiontv.com)

Rohingyas In Ngukura Invited To Meeting Were Arrested And Two Killed While In Custody

Eleven prominent Rohingyas from Ngakura village in Maungdaw Township were invited to attend a meeting by Myanmar Border Guard Police Battalion Commander based in Ngakura. They allegedly invited them to cooperate in the effort of finding attackers who attacked the BGP outposts on October 9th. These attendees were not allowed to go back home and arrested. Later two of them were killed while in custody.

On October 18th, 2016 at 9am BGP battalion commander made phone calls to some prominent Rohingyas who were close to him. He asked them to cooperate with him in finding the attackers. Eleven Rohingyas who were invited joined the meeting as per the request of commander. (Courtesy of rohingyablogger.com)