UN estimates up to 10,000 deaths

The release of a report on 24 August by the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar has brought more evidence to the fore of atrocious crimes against the Rohingya people. The report calls for the support of the international community to ensure that the situation is referred to the International Criminal Court. Social media networks Facebook and Instagram have taken action by banning 20 individuals from Myanmar’s military from using their services, including Min Aung Hlaing, Burma’s most senior military official. It is the first time that Facebook has removed accounts by a political or military leader, and the UN report said that Facebook had become “a useful instrument for those seeking to spread hate.”

Military face charges

The UN report has a ‘non-exhaustive list’ of alleged perpetrators of crimes under international law, but focuses on the individuals who control the crimes, notably military leaders. The report then goes on to name six senior military figures that it believes should face trial at the International Criminal Court: Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Vice Senior – General Soe Win, Commander, Bureau of Special Operations-3, Lieutenant-General Aung Kyaw Zaw, Commander, Western Regional Military Command, Major – General Maung Maung Soe, Commander, 33rd Light Infantry Division, Brigadier-General Aung Aung and Commander, 99th Light Infantry Division, Brigadier-General Than Oo.

The report also highlighted the negligence of the head of government Aung San Suu Kyi,

“The State Counsellor, has not used her de facto position as Head of Government, nor her moral authority, to stem or prevent the unfolding events, or seek alternative avenues to meet a responsibility to protect the civilian population.”

Aun San Suu Kyi has repeatedly refused to condemn the violence against the Rohingya. Resulting in widespread concern globally over the former Nobel Peace Prize winner’s position. Just last week, prior to the launch of the Edinburgh festival, she was stripped of her ‘Freedom of Edinburgh’ award, one of seven honours that have been removed from her in the past year.

The Ethnic Cleansing of the Rohingya

The report has been released just prior to a one-year anniversary of the military ethnic cleansing campaign of the Rohingya people in the Rakhine State of Northern Myanmar, when the situation for the Rohingya started to gravely deteriorate. The UN consequently called the military offensive in Rakhine a,

“textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”

Nearly three quarters of a million people fled, risking death by taking dangerous routes to escape the devastation.

However, the Rohingya people have faced discrimination at the hands of the Myanmar government for decades, having had many aspects of their daily lives restricted including their freedom of movement, nationality, and access to healthcare, education, work and food. The government of Myanmar, a mostly Buddhist country, denies citizenship to the Muslim Rohingya and refuses to recognise them as a people.

Human rights abuses

Human rights campaigners have emphasised the extent of the violations against the Rohingya, with Amnesty stating that they legally constitute apartheid,

“The violations against the Rohingya are so severe and extensive that it amounts to widespread and systematic attack on a civilian population, which is clearly linked to their ethnic or racial identity.”

The military campaign of ethnic cleansing has included a number of violations against the basic rights of people, including; targeted burning of Rohingya villages, the use of landmines, and the commission of crimes against humanity including: murder, rape, torture, forced starvation and forced deportation.

Those remaining in Rakhine state have been left in a form of ‘open-air prison’ for Rohingya Muslims. Amnesty reported a 25-year old Rohingya man living in central Rakhine state as saying,

“We don’t have enough to eat. We would be better in prison because at least then we would have food regularly. It is like we live in a prison anyway.”

Humanitarian and Refugee crisis

Following the Rakhine state military offensive, over 300 Rohingya villages were burned to the ground in response to attacks by Rohingya insurgents, and more than 700,000 people fled the destruction across the border to Bangladesh. The result is what the UN are now describing as the “world’s fastest growing refugee crisis.”

Most Rohingya refugees arrive in an area called Cox’s Bazaar, the camp there is estimated to have more than 602,400 refugees residing there, making it the largest refugee camp in the world, a situation which is clearly unsustainable.

The UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced he will visit Myanmar to get answers on the “deeply disturbing” treatment of the Rohingya people. He said on twitter yesterday,

“There must be never be a hiding place for those who commit these kind of atrocities. Have decided to visit Burma to seek answers at the earliest opportunity,”

The calls from the UN come after the Rohingya people have faced an ongoing battle in Myanmar lasting for years. Their suffering has been extensive, and the international community must prioritise the end of their plight by, at the very least, ensuring that those responsible face the necessary legal consequences. Moreover, the upholding of policies and processes that are tantamount to apartheid, and that cause the Rohingya to be increasingly dominated and isolated, must be drawn to a definitive close.

Award-winning journalist, Ashish Joshi, shares with IOHR TV his first-hand experience of the humanitarian crisis of the Rohingya people in Myanmar. The horror of the Rohingya experience which raises questions about the role of international civil society in protecting forgotten communities.