Myanmar Stands Accused of Ethnic Cleansing. Here ’s Why

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, said Monday that recent violence committed by the state against Myanmar’s Rohingya minority appears to be a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” The Rohingya, a stateless Muslim group in a predominantly Buddhist country, have been subjected to decades of persecution. The emergence last year of an insurgent Rohingya army has further deepened their misery; two separate and fatal attacks on state security forces — on Oct. 9, 2016 and Aug. 25, 2017 — each triggered devastating military reprisals characterized by extrajudicial killing, torture and mass displacement of innocent civilians. Since the Aug. 25 attacks, more than 313,000 Rohingya and other villagers have fled across Myanmar’s western border by land and water seeking sanctuary in Bangladesh. Arrivals say the military, and some armed civilians empowered by security forces, continue to burn down Rohingya villages and kill indiscriminately. Thousands more Rohingya are arriving each day at overcrowded refugee camps and new, informal settlements near Cox’s Bazaar, where they scramble for meager food rations and a place to sleep. They are exhausted after days of walking barefoot over mountains and across rivers; many have bullet wounds and injuries from arson attacks. New reports claim the Myanmar military has begun laying landmines along the border, and that soldiers have been shooting unarmed civilians even...
Source: TIME.com: Top Science and Health Stories - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Bangladesh myanmar onetime Rohingya Source Type: news