Myanmar, ethnic cleansing accusations against Rohingya Muslims by an ethno-nationalist organization for the restoration of Arakan sovereignty

YANGON (AsiaNews) – In Myanmar, the spotlight has returned to the violence against the Rohingya Muslim minority in the western state of Rakhine, already the target of a brutal campaign of persecution by the military between 2016 and 2017. According to what some human rights activists are denouncing, and from the testimonies of some survivors, a deadly campaign of ethnic cleansing has been underway for weeks at the hands of the Arakan Army, the ethnic independence militia of Rakhine that is fighting the coup army.

The weight of atrocities on the shoulders of civilians. “Rohingya and Rakhine civilians are bearing the brunt of the atrocities that the Myanmar military and the Arakan Militia (AA) are committing,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch (Hrw), in a report released this week. The document directly accuses the junta and AA forces of “extrajudicial killings and widespread arson.” Both sides, the expert continues, are stoking “hate speech, attacks on civilians, and massive arson to drive people from their homes and villages, raising the specter of ethnic cleansing.”

Shot while fleeing to Bangladesh. In one of the latest incidents, disputed by the Arakan Army, dozens of Rohingya Muslims, including many young children, were reportedly killed in a drone and artillery attack on August 5 as they tried to flee Myanmar. Escaping violence in the Rakhine state town of Maungdaw, the Rohingya families were reportedly on the banks of the Naf River waiting to cross into Bangladesh when they were fired upon by militants. On the same day, a boat carrying some Rohingya across the river across the border was reportedly attacked by drones from the Arakan Army. Two other overloaded boats carrying dozens of fleeing Muslims reportedly capsized, leaving most of them to drown.

Those 34 bodies floating on the Naf River. According to testimonies collected by Voice of America, at least 200 Rohingya were killed, with images and videos circulating on social media showing the bodies of men, women and children scattered along the banks of the river that marks the border between the two countries. In the following days, officials in Dhaka confirmed the discovery of 34 bodies floating on the Naf River, near Shahpori Island, some of the victims of the attack by Arakan rebels three days earlier.

The Arkan Army denies any involvement. In a statement, the Arakan Army’s top brass denied involvement, stressing that the deaths “did not occur in areas under our control and are not linked to our organization.” However, Rohingya activist Nay San Lwin, co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalitiontold Voa that since April the rebels have been violently attacking Rohingya villages, setting fire to thousands of houses and displacing hundreds of thousands of people who have lost their homes.

Three years of bloody war off the media radar. Three years after the coup of February 1, 2021, Myanmar is a country literally devastated. A country where a bloody conflict is being fought and mostly overlooked by the major global powers, as well as by much of the world media system, focused on the wars underway in Ukraine and the Middle East. The civil war has caused the deaths of thousands of civilians since 2021: it is difficult to establish the exact number, but some estimates speak of at least 15 thousand deaths. In recent months, a coalition of ethnic rebel forces, including the Arakan Army itself, has intensified the offensive to oust the military junta in power, which has been driven out of large areas in the Shan, Chin and Rakhine States.

The diaspora of Muslims from former Burma. For over 50 years, the Rohingya Muslim minority has taken refuge in neighboring countries, including Bangladesh or as far away as Vietnam, modern “boat people”, to escape persecution and discrimination in a Buddhist-majority Myanmar. According to the Free Rohingya Coalitionsince April more than 250,000 Rohingya have been left homeless in Buthidaung and Maungdaw. Fortify Rightsan international human rights group based in Southeast Asia, says it has documented killings and arson by the Arakan Army in Rohingya villages in Rakhine.

The Urgency of an Escape Corridor to Bangladesh. Alarmed by the escalation of violence, the Special Advisory Council (Sac) for Myanmara group of independent international experts, is addressing the militants directly, asking them to work with the Bangladeshi government to establish a humanitarian corridor. A safe route, they add, also to provide humanitarian assistance to all communities in Rakhine State and the creation of protected areas. At the same time, the activists are calling for the formation of an international investigation team, which can access the Western State and investigate the ongoing violence, complying with obligations under international law.

Next August 25th. It is seven years since the start of the massive atrocities of 2017, in which thousands of Rohingya men, women, boys and girls were killed in mass killings, rape and gang rape, torture, arson and fires by the Burmese military. Around 75 percent of the one million Rohingya in the area were forced to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. To this day, the victims are still waiting for justice and accountability, as new atrocities are added to the old.

The rule of impunity. Total impunity for the perpetrators of serious violations of international law in Myanmar, the activists conclude, provides the conditions “for the continuation of atrocities against civilians, as this latest massacre demonstrates. The international community must do more to ensure justice and finally put an end to impunity.”