Shameful situation

The situation of the Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar is alarming; some 300,000 have sought refuge in Bangladesh since August and many died trying to escape what at least one report calls systematic violation of human rights which falls within a defined framework of genocide.

An estimated 1,000 Rohingya were killed over the past two weeks; video footages show people being burned alive and entire villages destroyed by fire set by police and Buddhist extremists, while witnesses talk about police and military indiscriminately killing fleeing people.

According to international reports, 1.1 million Muslims became victims of seemingly systematic killing on religious basis, which the UN high commissioner for human rights recently said has all the markings of ethnic cleansing.

Rohingya people have been systematically persecuted for decades by the Burmese government, which, contrary to historical evidence, regards them as illegal migrants from Bangladesh and restricts their citizenship rights and access to government services.

The latest crackdown against the Muslim minority was triggered on August 25 when a Rohingya insurgent group attacked more than two dozen security sites and killed 12 people.

Militia groups, local security forces and the Burmese army responded with “clearance operations” that have forced refugees into Bangladesh and left tens of thousands more displaced inside the state.

In an address to the UN human rights council in Geneva, on September 11, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights HH Prince Zeid denounced the “brutal security operation” against the Rohingya in Rakhine state, which he said was “clearly disproportionate” to insurgent attacks carried out last month.

“I call on the government to end its current cruel military operation, with accountability for all violations that have occurred, and to reverse the pattern of severe and widespread discrimination against the Rohingya population. The situation seems a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”

The situation must not be allowed to continue. The international community should take meaningful action to stop the killing and exodus of the Rohingya and then hold the guilty accountable.

The world had witnessed too many ethnic and religious massacres, including in Rwanda and Bosnia, and knows that international inaction leads to the slaughter of many innocent people.

Either the International Criminal Court takes immediate action or a special international tribunal is established for this purpose, similar to that for Rwanda and Bosnia.

The government of Myanmar has a lot of explaining to do and is duty bound to initiate immediate investigation and take all measures to stop the carnage in the country.