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November 21, 2017

The situation for Myanmar’s Rohingya minority has deteriorated dramatically since August 2017, when the military unleashed a brutal campaign of violence against the population living in the northern parts of Rakhine State, where the majority of Rohingya normally live. This report maps in detail the violations, in particular discrimination and racially-based restrictions in law, policy and practice that Rohingya living in Rakhine State have faced for decades, and how these have intensified since 2012, following waves of violence between Muslims and Buddhists, often supported by security forces.

October 18, 2017

More than 530,000 Rohingya men, women and children have fled northern Rakhine State in terror in a matter of weeks amid the Myanmar security forces’ targeted campaign of widespread and systematic murder, rape and burning, Amnesty International said today in its most detailed analysis yet of the ongoing crisis. 

‘My World Is Finished’: Rohingya Targeted in Crimes against Humanity in Myanmar describes how Myanmar’s security forces are carrying out a systematic, organized and ruthless campaign of violence against the Rohingya population as a whole in northern Rakhine State, after a Rohingya armed group attacked around 30 security posts on 25 August. 

Dozens of eyewitnesses to the worst violence consistently implicated specific units, including the Myanmar Army’s Western Command, the 33rd Light Infantry Division, and the Border Guard Police. 

“In this orchestrated campaign, Myanmar’s security forces have brutally meted out revenge on the entire Rohingya population of northern Rakhine State, in an apparent attempt to permanently drive them out of the country. These atrocities continue to fuel the region’s worst refugee crisis in decades,” said Tirana Hassan, Crisis Response Director at Amnesty International.

"Myanmar’s security forces have brutally meted out revenge on the entire Rohingya population of northern Rakhine State, in an apparent attempt to permanently drive them out of the country. Exposing these heinous crimes is the first step on the long road to justice."

“Exposing these heinous crimes is the first step on the long road to justice. Those responsible must be held to account; Myanmar’s military can’t simply sweep serious violations under the carpet by announcing another sham internal investigation. The Commander-in-Chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, must take immediate action to stop his troops from committing atrocities.”

Crimes against humanity

Witness accounts, satellite imagery and data, and photo and video evidence gathered by Amnesty International all point to the same conclusion: hundreds of thousands of Rohingya women, men, and children have been the victims of a widespread and systematic attack, amounting to crimes against humanity. 

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court lists 11 types of acts which, when knowingly committed during such an attack, constitute crimes against humanity. Amnesty International has consistently documented at least six of these amid the current wave of violence in northern Rakhine State: murder, deportation and forcible displacement, torture, rape and other sexual violence, persecution, and other inhumane acts such as denying food and other life-saving provisions.

This conclusion is based on testimonies from more than 120 Rohingya men and women who have fled to Bangladesh in recent weeks, as well as 30 interviews with medical professionals, aid workers, journalists and Bangladeshi officials.

Amnesty International’s experts corroborated many witness accounts of the Myanmar security forces’ crimes by analysing satellite imagery and data, as well as verifying photographs and video footage taken inside Rakhine State. The organization has also requested access to Rakhine State to investigate abuses on the ground, including by members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), the Rohingya armed group. Amnesty International continues to call for unfettered access to the UN Fact-Finding Mission and other independent observers.

A Rohingya refugee who arrived by boat from Myanmar overnight looks at the final stretch before arriving to Bangladesh, 28 September 2017. © Andrew Stanbridge / Amnesty International

Murder and massacres

In the hours and days following the ARSA attacks on 25 August, the Myanmar security forces, sometimes joined by local vigilantes, surrounded Rohingya villages throughout the northern part of Rakhine State. As Rohingya women, men, and children fled their homes, the soldiers and police officers often opened fire, killing or seriously injuring at least hundreds of people. 

Survivors described running to nearby hills and rice fields, where they hid until the forces left. The elderly and people with disabilities were often unable to flee, and burned to death in their homes after the military set them alight.

This pattern was replicated in dozens of villages across Maungdaw, Rathedaung, and Buthidaung townships. But the security forces, and in particular the Myanmar military, appear to have unleashed their most lethal response in specific villages near where ARSA carried out its attacks. 

Amnesty International documented events in five such villages where at least a dozen people were killed: Chein Kar Li, Koe Tan Kauk, and Chut Pyin, all in Rathedaung Township; and Inn Din and Min Gyi, in Maungdaw Township. In Chut Pyin and Min Gyi, the death toll was particularly high, with at least scores of Rohingya women, men, and children killed by Myanmar security forces. 

Amnesty International interviewed 17 survivors of the massacre in Chut Pyin, six of whom had gunshot wounds. Almost all had lost at least one family member, with some losing many. They consistently described the Myanmar military, joined by Border Guard Police and local vigilantes, surrounding Chut Pyin, opening fire on those fleeing, and then systematically burning Rohingya houses and buildings.

Fatima, 12, told Amnesty International that she was at home with her parents, eight siblings, and grandmother when they saw fire rising from another part of their village. As the family ran out of their house, she said men in uniform opened fire on them from behind. She saw both her father and 10-year-old sister get shot, then Fatima was also hit in the back of her right leg, just above the knee. 

“I fell down, but my neighbour grabbed me and carried me,” she recalled. After a week on the run, she finally received treatment in Bangladesh. Her mother and older brother were also killed in Chut Pyin.

Satellite image shows the extent of fire damage in Chut Pyin village on 16 September 2017. Image: © 2017 DigitalGlobe, Inc. Source: © 2017 Google

Amnesty International sent photographs of Fatima’s wound to a forensic medical expert, who said it was consistent with a bullet wound that “would have entered the thigh from behind.” Medical professionals in Bangladesh described treating many wounds that appeared to have been caused by gunshots fired from behind –matching consistent witness testimony that the military fired on Rohingya as they tried to run away. 

In Chein Kar Li and Koe Tan Kauk, two neighbouring villages, Amnesty International documented the same pattern of attack by the Myanmar military.

Sona Mia, 77, said he was at home in Koe Tan Kauk when Myanmar soldiers surrounded the village and opened fire on 27 August. His 20-year-old daughter, Rayna Khatun, had a disability that left her unable to walk or speak. One of his sons put her on his shoulders, and the family slowly made its way toward the hill on the village’s edge. As they heard the shooting get closer and closer, they decided they had to leave Rayna in a Rohingya house that had been abandoned. 

“We didn’t think we’d be able to make it,” Sona Mia recalled. “I told her to sit there, we’d come back… After arriving on the hill, we spotted the house where we left her. It was a bit away, but we could see. The soldiers were burning [houses], and eventually we saw that house, it was burned too.” 

After the military left the village in the late afternoon, Sona Mia’s sons went down and found Rayna Khatun’s burnt body among the torched house. They dug a grave at the edge of that house’s courtyard, and buried her there.



Rape and other sexual violence

Amnesty International interviewed seven Rohingya survivors of sexual violence committed by the Myanmar security forces. Of those, four women and a 15-year-old girl had been raped, each in a separate group with between two and five other women and girls who were also raped. The rapes occurred in two villages that the organization investigated: Min Gyi in Maungdaw Township and Kyun Pauk in Buthidaung Township. 

As previously documented by Human Rights Watch and The Guardian, after entering Min Gyi (known locally as Tula Toli) on the morning of 30 August, Myanmar soldiers pursued Rohingya villagers who fled down to the riverbank and then separated the men and older boys from the women and younger children. 

After opening fire on and executing at least scores of men and older boys, as well as some women and younger children, the soldiers took women in groups to nearby houses where they raped them, before setting fire to those houses and other Rohingya parts of the village.

S.K., 30, told Amnesty International that after watching the executions, she and many other women and younger children were taken to a ditch, where they were forced to stand in knee-deep water:

“They took the women in groups to different houses. …There were five of us [women], taken by four soldiers [in military uniform]. They took our money, our possessions, and then they beat us with a wooden stick. My children were with me. They hit them too. Shafi, my two-year-old son, he was hit hard with a wooden stick. One hit, and he was dead… Three of my children were killed. Mohamed Osman (10) [and] Mohamed Saddiq (five) too. Other women [in the house] also had children [with them] that were killed. 

“All of the women were stripped naked…They had very strong wooden sticks. They first hit us in the head, to make us weak. Then they hit us [in the vagina] with the wooden sticks. Then they raped us. A different soldier for each [woman].” 

After raping women and girls, the soldiers set fire to the houses, killing many of the victims inside.

Deliberate, organized village burnings

On 3 October, the UN Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT) reported that it had identified 20.7 square kilometres of buildings destroyed by fire in Maungdaw and Buthidaung Townships since 25 August. Even that likely underestimated the overall scale of destruction and burning, as dense cloud cover affected what the satellites were able to detect. 

Amnesty International’s own review of fire data from remote satellite sensing indicates at least 156 large fires in northern Rakhine State since 25 August, also likely to be an underestimate. In the previous five years, no fires were detected during the same period, which is also the monsoon season, strongly indicating that the burning has been intentional.

Before and after satellite images strikingly illustrate what witnesses also consistently told Amnesty International – that the Myanmar security forces only burned Rohingya villages or areas. For example, satellite images of Inn Din and Min Gyi show large swathes of structures razed by fire virtually side by side with areas that were left untouched. Distinct features of the untouched areas, combined with accounts from Rohingya residents as to where they and other ethnic communities lived in those villages, indicate that only Rohingya areas were razed.

Amnesty International has noted a similar pattern in at least a dozen more villages where Rohingya lived in close proximity to people from other ethnicities.

“Given their ongoing denials, Myanmar’s authorities may have thought they would literally get away with murder on a massive scale. But modern technology, coupled with rigorous human rights research, have tipped the scales against them,” said Tirana Hassan.

"Given their ongoing denials, Myanmar’s authorities may have thought they would literally get away with murder on a massive scale. But modern technology, coupled with rigorous human rights research, have tipped the scales against them."

“It is time for the international community to move beyond public outcry and take action to end the campaign of violence that has driven more than half the Rohingya population out of Myanmar. Through cutting off military cooperation, imposing arms embargoes and targeted sanctions on individuals responsible for abuses, a clear message must be sent that the military’s crimes against humanity in Rakhine State will not be tolerated.

“The international community must ensure that the ethnic cleansing campaign does not achieve its unlawful, reprehensible goal. To do so, the international community must combine encouraging and supporting Bangladesh in providing adequate conditions and safe asylum to Rohingya refugees, with ensuring that Myanmar respects their human right to return safely, voluntarily and with dignity to their country and insisting that it ends, once and for all, the systematic discrimination against the Rohingya and other root causes of the current crisis.”






January 12, 2017

URGENT ACTION

TORTURE FEARS FOR HUNDREDS ROHINGYA DETAINED

Hundreds of Rohingya have been detained as part of the ongoing security operation in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. To date, no official information about where the individuals are being held or what they are accused of has been made public. All are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment and of being subjected to unfair trials.

Myanmar authorities have, according to a governmental Investigation Commission, arrested and “taken legal action” against 485 people since 9 October 2016. Among them are village leaders, business owners, religious leaders and Arabic teachers as well as ordinary villagers. In some instances, men failed to return after being summoned to security force headquarters, while others were arrested by state security forces during village sweeps to find suspected assailants and stolen weapons. Relatives have told Amnesty International they do not know where their loved ones are being detained, what they have been charged with or whether they have access to any lawyer. The absence of any information about these detainees for several months raises concerns that they could be victims of enforced disappearance.

Testimonies collected by Amnesty International reveal that some arrests have been accompanied or followed by torture and other ill-treatment. In October, two young Rohingya men from northern Maungdaw Township were beaten by state security forces for 30 minutes before being taken away. In November, soldiers and police officers beat a man from Kyet Yoe Pyin village with rods to get him to disclose the location of suspected militants. A video posted online in December also showed police beat a Rohingya boy during a security sweep. According to state media six people have died in custody since 9 October, including Kalim Ullah, a 58-year-old former UN worker, who died three days after being arrested in Ridar village on 14 October.

Those who speak out about human rights violations in Rakhine State also risk arbitrary arrest and other reprisals.

Please write immediately in English, Burmese or your own language urging the Myanmar authorities to:

- Immediately disclose the fate and whereabouts of all individuals detained during these security operations and ensure that they are treated humanely, allowed effective, prompt and regular access to their family, lawyers of their own choosing and adequate medical care;

- Immediately release all detainees unless they are promptly charged with an internationally recognizable offence. In such cases, ensure all trials meet international standards of fairness, without recourse to the death penalty, and all detainees are transferred to recognized places of detention;

- Undertake independent, impartial and effective investigations into deaths in custody and allegations of torture or other ill-treatment by the security forces. Those suspected to be responsible – including those with command responsibility – should be brought to justice in trials which meet international standards of fairness, without recourse to the death penalty.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 23 FEBRUARY 2017 TO:

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
State Counsellor
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Office No. 9
Nay Pyi Taw
Republic of the Union of Myanmar
Fax: + 95 (0) 67412396
Salutation: Your Excellency

Lt. Gen. Kyaw Swe
Minister of Home Affairs
Office No. 10, Nay Pyi Taw
Republic of the Union of Myanmar
Fax: +95 67 412 439
Salutation: Dear Minister

And copies to:

Chairman, Myanmar National Human Rights Commission 
U Win Mra 
27 Pyay Road, Hlaing Township, Yangon Republic of the Union of Myanmar
Fax: + 95 1 659 668

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

On 9 October 2016 several hundred men, believed to be part of a militant group comprised primarily of individuals from the Rohingya ethnic group, attacked border police outposts in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State, killing six border police and seizing weapons and ammunition. Security forces responded by launching a major security operation, conducting “clearance operations” and sealing the area, effectively barring humanitarian organizations, media and independent human rights monitors from entering. 

Since then, Amnesty International has documented a litany of human rights violations against the Rohingya community in northern Rakhine State committed by the security forces – in particular the military. These include unlawful killings and random firing on civilians, arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment, rape and other crimes of sexual violence, mass destruction of Rohingya buildings, looting of property, and arbitrary confiscation of important identity documents. For further information see Amnesty International report: “We are at breaking point” - Rohingya: Persecuted in Myanmar, neglected in Bangladesh (Index: ASA 16/5362/2016), available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa16/5362/2016/en/

International law and standards prohibit the arbitrary deprivation of liberty and contain a number of safeguards ensuring detainees’ rights to due process and to freedom from torture and other ill-treatment. Among them are: the right to notify family or another third person; the right to legal counsel; the right to medical assistance; the right to be brought promptly before a judge and to challenge the lawfulness of detention; the right to silence and not to incriminate oneself. Denial of the right to communicate with the outside world – that is, holding a person in incommunicado detention – clearly breaches these standards. The UN General Assembly has repeatedly stated that “prolonged incommunicado detention or detention in secret places can facilitate the perpetration of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and can in itself constitute a form of such treatment.” 

On 1 December 2016, President U Htin Kyaw announced the establishment of the Investigation Commission to probe the attacks on 9 October, and 12 and 13 November 2016, and alleged human rights abuses. The Commission is scheduled to report to the President by 31 January 2017; however, given that its membership includes high ranking former and current military and government personnel, Amnesty International does not consider the Commission capable of carrying out an independent, credible investigation.

The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority who live mainly in Rakhine State which borders Bangladesh. They have faced decades of persecution at the hands of the Myanmar authorities, however their situation has significantly deteriorated since waves of violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Muslims (mainly Rohingya) swept through Rakhine State in 2012 leading to scores of deaths, mass displacement and the destruction of property. Rohingya’s right to freedom of movement is severely restricted, which impacts their ability to access education and healthcare, to practice their religion and access livelihood opportunities.

Name: Kalim Ullah, Rohingyas detained during security operations
Gender m/f: both


MYANMAR: "WE ARE AT BREAKING POINT"-ROHINGYA: PERSECUTED IN MYANMAR, NEGLECTED IN BANGLADESH

19 December 2016

This report documents a campaign of violence by the Myanmar security forces against Rohingya since 9 October 2016. Soldiers and police have randomly fired on and killed civilians, raped women and girls, torched whole villages and arbitrarily arrested Rohingya men without any information about their whereabouts or charges. These actions have been a form of collective punishment targeting Rohingya in northern Rakhine state, and may amount to crimes against humanity.






November 24, 2016
  • Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers being detained and forcibly returned
  • Lack of water, food and medical care 
  • Both governments preventing thousands from accessing aid 
  • Harrowing details of Myanmar military attacks on villages

As the Myanmar authorities are subjecting the Rohingya Muslim minority to collective punishment, thousands of refugees who have made it across the border to Bangladesh in desperate need of humanitarian assistance are being forcibly pushed back in flagrant violation of international law, Amnesty International said today.

“The Rohingya are being squeezed by the callous actions of both the Myanmar and Bangladesh authorities. Fleeing collective punishment in Myanmar, they are being pushed back by the Bangladeshi authorities. Trapped between these cruel fates, their desperate need for food, water and medical care is not being addressed,” said Champa Patel, Amnesty International’s South Asia Director.

The Rohingya are fleeing a policy of collective punishment in Myanmar’s Northern Rakhine state, where security forces are mounting indiscriminate reprisal attacks in response to a 9 October assault on three border posts that killed nine members of the border police.

Speaking to members of the Rohingya community on the ground in Bangladesh and in interviews with those still in Myanmar, Amnesty International has heard accounts of Myanmar’s security forces, led by the military, firing at villagers from helicopter gunships, torching hundreds of homes, carrying out arbitrary arrests, and raping women and girls.

Across the Naf river that divides Bangladesh and Myanmar, Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers are forced into hiding and are suffering a severe lack of food and medical care, Amnesty International found in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district.

Forcible returns

The Bangladeshi authorities have cracked down on the flow of Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers from Myanmar. Over the past week, the Bangladesh Border Guards have detained and forcibly returned hundreds.

The move is a violation of the principle of non-refoulement – an absolute prohibition under international law on forcibly returning people to a country or place where they would be at real risk of serious human rights violations.

The Bangladeshi authorities have also sealed their border with Myanmar and fortified it with the deployment of the Bangladesh Border Guards and coast guard forces. Since 1992, the Bangladesh government has a policy of denying Rohingya refugee status.

On 22 November, Amnesty International witnessed groups of Rohingya crossing the border close to Whaikyang, a village by the Naf river in Bangladesh. They looked weary and emaciated, the signs of a gruelling journey evident on their faces.

They told Amnesty International that they had arrived in Bangladesh the night before, waiting until sunrise on a nearby island to evade Bangladeshi officials.

Several thousand Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers are believed to have recently crossed into Bangladesh. They are spread out across villages, refugee camps and slums, making the true number impossible to determine. At least 2,000 people have made the journey across the Naf river since 21 November, with more set to arrive over successive days.

Some of them told Amnesty International they had paid smugglers to take them across. Others confessed to bribing Bangladesh Border Guards or other Bangladeshis to help them elude interception at the border.

“The Bangladeshi government must not add to the suffering of Rohingya. They should be recognized and protected as refugees fleeing persecution, not punished for who they are,” said Champa Patel.
Inhuman and degrading conditions

The bulk of the Rohingya who successfully reached Bangladesh have sought shelter in makeshift camps across the Cox’s Bazar where earlier waves of refugees and asylum-seekers settled. 

Water and food are scarce. Aid workers in the area told Amnesty International that even before the most recent arrivals, the camp dwellers were already suffering severe malnutrition. 

The latest arrivals have put an enormous strain on Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers already based in Bangladesh who have opened their small and cramped homes to them.

One man living in the Kutupalong makeshift refugee camp told Amnesty International:

“I am the only breadwinner in my family. We are seven people, but some family members arrived from Myanmar last week so now we are 15 people living in the same small hut. We did not have any food this morning. I only own two longyis [traditional garment] – I gave one to my cousin, I am wearing the only clothes I own.”

A 40-year-old woman, who said she had fled to Bangladesh after the Myanmar army killed her husband and one of her sons, was not able to find shelter in the camp for herself and her two young children.

“We are sleeping outside in the mud,” she said. “My son is two years old and is crying all the time, he is very cold in the mornings. Still, compared to Myanmar, Bangladesh seems like heaven to me.”

Many of those arriving are in extremely poor health and in need of medical attention. Reliable sources confirmed to Amnesty International that several people have crossed the border bearing untreated bullet wounds. But the Rohingya said that they did not seek medical attention from the few clinics in the area, out of fear of being detained and deported. 

While many Bangladeshi people have welcomed and offered assistance to the new arrivals, the Rohingya are preyed upon by local thieves. 

“When we crossed the border, some local people attacked and looted us. They took everything we had,” said one 16-year-old girl, who paid people smugglers to take her into Bangladesh on 21 November. 

“Relying on the generosity of Bangladeshis already in poverty and long-term refugees is not sustainable. The thousands who have crossed the border desperately need help. Bangladeshi authorities must immediately allow aid groups unfettered access to those fleeing the escalating persecution in Myanmar,” said Champa Patel.

Collective punishment in Rakhine state

Since the 9 October attack on border police posts, Amnesty International and other rights organizations have received reports of a litany of human rights violations carried out by the Myanmar army in North Rakhine State during security operations. The UN estimates that 30,000 people have been displaced from their homes.

“The response of the army to attacks on security forces six weeks ago went far beyond what was necessary and proportional. Instead of investigating and arresting specific suspects, the army carried out operations amounting to collective punishment,” said Champa Patel.

“By targeting individuals clearly not involved in such attacks, whole families and whole villages, these operations appear to target Rohingya collectively on the basis of their ethnicity and religion.”

The Myanmar government has denied all allegations of human rights violations by its military, but at the same time has blocked access to humanitarian aid and effectively barred independent journalists and human rights monitors from entering the area.

“The Myanmar government’s accounts lack credibility. If it has nothing to hide, it should open access to independent observers, including human rights monitors, aid workers and journalists,” said Champa Patel.

Members of the Rohingya community, both in Bangladesh and Myanmar described in harrowing detail the actions of the Myanmar army, including arbitrary arrests, unlawful killings, and the torching of villages.

“These and other accounts of human rights violations must immediately be investigated in a genuinely independent impartial and efficient way. The only real solution, both in the short and long terms, lies in respect for the human rights of Rohingyas in Myanmar. Long-term, entrenched and systemic discrimination against Rohingya must end.”

Testimonies

A Rohingya villager in Myanmar told Amnesty International how security forces approached his village, firing guns in the air, creating a panic:

“Then they shot at people who were fleeing. They surrounded the village and started going from house to house. They were verbally abusing the people. They were threatening to rape the women saying ‘We are going to rape your kalar women’.”

Kalar” or “foreigner” is a racial epithet used against the Rohingya community.

A woman who spoke to Amnesty International from Myanmar described how her two sons were arbitrarily arrested by security forces:

“It was early in the morning, the military surrounded our house, while some came in and forced me and my children to go outside. They tied my two sons up. They tied their hands behind their backs, and they were beaten badly. The military kicked them in the chest. I saw it myself. I was crying so loudly. When I cried, they [the military] pointed a gun at me. My children were begging the military not to hit them. They were beaten for around 30 minutes before being taken away.”

She hasn’t seen or heard from them since.

A 38-year-old man, who spoke to Amnesty International in Bangladesh after arriving on 22 November, said:

“My sister and brother were both kidnapped by the army. I saw with my own eyes how the military burned down our village, and how soldiers raped women and girls.” 

A 44-year-old woman said she witnessed how the army arrested and handcuffed young men in her village, shot them dead and pushed them into mass graves. She also said the army used hand-held rocket launchers, echoing reports from several other eyewitnesses about the use of such weapons and actions.

Another man, 58, told Amnesty International in Bangladesh he fled across the border after helicopter gunships opened fire on his and surrounding villages:

“We saw helicopters firing on the village. We ran into the forest to save our lives.”

Background: Rohingya in Bangladesh

Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers have arrived into Bangladesh from Myanmar in waves since at least the 1970s. There are some 33,000 registered Rohingya refugees living in Cox’s Bazar’s two camps, Kutupalong and Nayapara.

The Bangladesh government has since 1992 refused to grant refugee status to Rohingya arriving from Myanmar. An estimated 300,000-500,000 undocumented Rohingya are living in Bangladesh, spread out in the two makeshift camps close to Kutupalong and Leda, as well as villages and towns across the southeast of the country.

With no legal protections, the undocumented Rohingya are extremely vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Limited employment opportunities means that many are forced into the drug trade or human trafficking to earn an income. Incidents of rape and other sexual violence against undocumented Rohingya women are frequent, since they are considered “easy targets” who cannot report crimes to police for fear of being arrested themselves.

The Bangladesh government has recently completed a census of the undocumented Rohingya people but has not made the results public yet. The government says the census will lead to better access to services and to granting basic legal status to the undocumented Rohingya.



Press Release
October 28, 2016


Myanmar: Authorities must investigate security forces as reports of Rakhine abuses mount


Amnesty International is calling for an prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into the conduct of Myanmar’s security forces in the restive Rakhine state for human rights violations committed during ongoing security operations in the region.

The organization has received numerous reports that Myanmar’s security forces operating in the state – home to most of the country’s oppressed Rohingya minority – are alleged to be involved in extra-judicial executions, arbitrary arrests and detentions, destroying people’s homes and crimes involving sexual violence amongst other violations. Ongoing restrictions on access to northern Rakhine State has made it extremely difficult to independently verify such claims.

“We have received a series of alarming reports concerning Myanmar’s security forces and their conduct against the backdrop of security operations in Rakhine state. Rather than issuing blanket denials without looking into the matter, the Myanmar authorities should implement an independent and impartial investigation that establishes a credible verdict on their human rights record and bring all those suspected of criminal responsibility to justice in fair trials before ordinary civilian courts without recourse to death penalty,” said Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International’s Director for South East Asia and the Pacific.

The call comes as the authorities continue to heavily restrict access to northern Rakhine state, preventing journalists and independent observers from verifying reports.

Local journalists who travelled to the affected Maungdaw area following the eruption of violence in Rakhine state on October 9 have told Amnesty International that the Myanmar military severely impeded their movements, including by sealing off many of the areas affected by “clearance operations”.

Foreign journalists also told the organization that their requests for access to northern Rakhine state have been denied on the grounds that security operations are ongoing and authorities cannot guarantee their safety.

“If Myanmar’s security forces are not involved in any human rights violations as the authorities claim, then they should have no trouble granting independent observers access so they can help establish the truth on the ground,” said Rafendi Djamin.

On October 25, the local media reported that Presidential spokesperson Zaw Htay had rejected allegations that security forces had committed human rights violations, insisting they were just “accusations” and that “we haven’t done anything lawless”.

Amnesty International also reaffirms its call for the Myanmar authorities to grant unfettered access to the UN and international humanitarian organizations who have been unable to provide assistance to communities in need. Both Rohingya and Rakhine communities have been displaced following October 9.

Background

On October 9 unknown assailants attacked three police outposts in the north of Myanmar’s Rakhine State, killing nine Border Guard Police and seizing weapons and ammunition. Eight attackers were also killed. The authorities immediately initiated security operations to apprehend the alleged perpetrators.

Amnesty International recognizes that the Myanmar authorities have the duty and the right to maintain law and order, and to investigate and bring to justice to those suspected of responsibility for the October 9 attacks. However, they must ensure that these investigations are conducted in a fair and transparent manner, in accordance with international law.

Rohingyas in northern Rakhine State have for decades faced severe restrictions on their movement, impacting severely on their ability to access healthcare, education and livelihood opportunities. This ongoing repression has sparked many thousands of Rohingya to flee and seek asylum abroad in recent years.

Original here.




Amnesty International 
Date: October 20, 2016

The Myanmar government must urgently lift restrictions that are preventing access to humanitarian aid in Rakhine and Kachin states, Amnesty International said today.

The intensification of the conflict in Kachin State, and the eruption of violence in northern Rakhine State, where a major security operation has led members of the Rohingya and Rakhine communities to flee their homes, has aggravated what was already a serious humanitarian situation in the country.

“The Myanmar authorities must immediately lift restrictions that are preventing the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies from reaching people in need,” said Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International’s Director for South East Asia and the Pacific.

“Both Rakhine and Kachin States already had tens of thousands of people been displaced by violence in recent years. The events of the past few weeks have aggravated that situation, and put more lives at risk.”

Kachin State

Fighting in Kachin state earlier this month led to the death of a child and two others being injured. In recent weeks, hostilities have seen the Myanmar military resorting to airstrikes and shelling.

Amnesty International has learned from credible sources that the authorities have not allowed UN and humanitarian agencies to deliver aid to people displaced in non-governmental controlled area since April 2016.

The organization is concerned by reports that the authorities may instead require people displaced to cross conflict lines in order to receive aid.

“All parties to the armed conflict have an obligation to allow and facilitate delivery of impartial humanitarian assistance for civilians in need. Blocking such aid is a violation of international humanitarian law. Civilians cannot be put in a position where they have no other option but to put their lives in harm’s way to access much needed aid. The authorities must ensure free and unimpeded access for humanitarian organizations delivering aid and emergency assistance to all civilians who need it”, said Rafendi Djamin.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) there are currently approximately 87,000 displaced people in Kachin State, many of them in areas beyond government control.

Fighting resumed there in June 2011 after a 17-year ceasefire between the Myanmar army and the Kachin Independence Army broke down.

Rakhine State

An attack on three police outposts on 9 October triggered fresh concerns about violence and displacement in Rakhine State. Authorities responded by launching a major security operation to capture the perpetrators, tightening the already severe restrictions on movement that existed in the area.

According to local sources, members of both the Rohingya and Rakhine communities have fled their homes in fear. However, the severe isolation of norther Rakhine State and restrictions on independent journalists and monitors makes it extremely difficult to assess the scale of the displacement, or verify reports coming out of the region.

Amnesty International is deeply concerned that UN agencies and other humanitarian organizations have not been given authorization to access the affected populations to assess their needs and provide assistance.

“Local sources are telling us that Rohingya villagers are unable to access medical care. The Myanmar authorities must ensure that the human rights of these communities are respected, including ensuring that they have effective access to health care and other services,” said Rafendi Djamin.



By James Lovatt, Country Coordinator for Burma
November 11, 2015

Sunday was a bit of an odd day. As a huge number of citizens in Burma were starting their celebrations from a likely NLD victory, Amnesty UK had a number of our activists protesting outside the Burmese Embassy in London. Why? Weren’t the elections free and fair?

Well, if you want a one word answer then it's a resounding no. And you might just note in the media flurry this week that the words 'free' and 'fair' have been replaced ‘freest’ and ‘the most democratic’. A small but critical play on words that are easy to miss.

Aung San Suu Kyi summarised it well. When asked exactly the same question, she said the polls were not fair but ‘largely free’. She was referring to the fact that roughly 20% of the population (10 million people) were unable to participate voting during this election. Some voting irregularities have also been reported with advanced voting, fraud and intimidation.

Why we demonstrated

So that brings us back to our protest. It might seem a small number in comparison, but at least 110 of those unable to vote are prisoners of conscience, with at least 19 having been jailed in the last month alone Many, but not all, were detained for peacefully marching across the country in March 2015 to protest against a new education law. A law which the All Burma Federation Student Union (ABFSU) believes limits academic freedom.

Secretary of the Union Phyoe Phyoe Aung is one of those imprisoned, and our protest on Sunday, called for her release and the release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. Demand their release now

In a sign of how little is changing, just last week her husband Lin Htet Naing was also imprisoned for his part in organising the protests. He had spent nearly eight months in hiding.

This is why our protest was so important.

During the next few weeks, as the media leave the country, prisoners like Phyoe Phyoe Aung and Lin Htet Naing must not be forgotten.

Despite a new NLD majority government, the military will still appoint the Home Affairs Minister. And they control the police, security services and justice system. So in all likelihood there will still be political prisoners.

Demand all student protesters are freed

Right now and over the next few weeks we really need your help to keep the pressure on.

Amnesty International has chosen Phyoe Phyoe Aung as one of our Write for Rights cases this winter. In part this is because we believe showing solidarity will keep the morale up of those wrongly in prison, but it is also because this is a case we think we can win by keeping up the pressure.


AFP/Getty Images

October 22, 2015

  • Women, men and children trafficked, held in hellish conditions, beaten or killed for ransom
  • Fears that hundreds, maybe thousands, more refugees and migrants have perished at sea than first estimated
  • New “sailing season” crisis looms in Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea

Rohingya women, men and children attempting to flee persecution in Myanmar by boat earlier this year were killed or severely beaten by human traffickers if their families failed to pay ransoms, and kept in hellish, inhuman conditions, Amnesty International reveals in a new report today.

Deadly journeys: The refugee and trafficking crisis in Southeast Asia is based on interviews with more than 100 Rohingya refugees – mainly victims of human trafficking, and many of them children – who reached Indonesia after fleeing Myanmar or Bangladesh across the Andaman Sea.

With the monsoon over and a new “sailing season” already underway, thousands more could be taking to boats. Amnesty International is urging regional governments to urgently step up their response to the crisis.

“The daily physical abuse faced by Rohingya who were trapped on boats in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea is almost too horrific to put into words. They had escaped Myanmar, but had only traded one nightmare for another. Even children were not spared these abuses,” said Anna Shea, Refugee Researcher at Amnesty International.

“The shocking truth is that those we spoke to are the ‘lucky’ ones who made it to shore – countless others perished at sea or were trafficked into forced labour situations. Governments must do more to prevent this human tragedy from recurring.”

The harrowing events that unfolded in May 2015 – triggered by Thailand’s crackdown on human trafficking, and the traffickers’ subsequent abandonment of people at sea – left thousands of refugees and migrants stranded for weeks in desperate need of food, water and medical care.

While the UN estimates that at least 370 people lost their lives between January and June 2015, Amnesty International believes the true figure to be much higher. Eyewitnesses who spoke to Amnesty International saw dozens of large boats full of refugees and migrants in similar circumstances, but only five boats landed in Indonesia and Malaysia according to UN sources. Hundreds – if not thousands – of people remain unaccounted for, and may have died during their journeys or been sold for forced labour.

Deaths and beatings for money

Many Rohingya said that they had seen crew members kill people when their families failed to pay ransoms. Some people were shot by the traffickers on the boats while others were thrown overboard and left to drown. Others died because of lack of food and water or disease.

Refugees described how they were kept for months on very large boats and severely beaten while traffickers contacted their family members, demanding a ransom. One 15-year-old Rohingya girl said the crew called her father in Bangladesh, made him listen to her cries while they beat her, and told him to pay them about USD 1,700.

Virtually every Rohingya woman, man and child said they had either been beaten themselves or seen others suffer serious physical abuse. People were beaten with metal or plastic batons – sometimes for several hours – simply for begging for food, moving or asking to use the toilet. Many have been left with long-term physical or psychological scars from the violence.

Beatings were often carried out in a chillingly routine and systematic way. One 15-year old Rohingya boy said: “In the morning you were hit three times. In the afternoon you were hit three times. At night you were hit nine times.”

Persecuted at home

The Rohingyas’ desperation stems from decades of persecution and discrimination in Myanmar, where they are effectively denied citizenship under national law. Waves of violence against the Rohingya, most recently erupting in 2012, have forced tens of thousands into overcrowded camps where they live in desperate conditions.

Some people said that they had been abducted by traffickers in Myanmar or Bangladesh, whereas others had been promised a safe passage to Malaysia for a nominal fee – a tactic commonly used by traffickers looking to coerce people into forced labour.

“The Rohingya are so desperate that they will continue to risk their lives at sea until the root causes of this crisis are addressed – the Myanmar government must immediately end its persecution of the Rohingya,” said Anna Shea.
Hellish conditions

The Rohingya were kept in inhuman and degrading conditions during their journeys. Boats were severely overcrowded, with people forced to sit in extremely cramped positions, sometimes for months on end. A local man who helped rescue people off the coast of Aceh in Indonesia said that the stench was so bad that rescuers could not board.

Food and water was severely lacking and rations usually consisted of a small cup of rice per day. Many of the Rohingya who reached Indonesia were emaciated, had difficulty walking after being cramped for so long, and suffered from dehydration, malnourishment, bronchitis, and flu.

Conditions in Indonesia

In May 2015, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand initially pushed overcrowded vessels back from their shores and prevented thousands of desperate passengers from disembarking. Following international criticism, Indonesia and Malaysia eventually agreed to admit a number of asylum-seekers, on the condition that another country accept them by May 2016.

Indonesia should be recognized for devoting resources to housing hundreds of vulnerable people in its Aceh province, and working to fulfill their basic needs in cooperation with local civil society and international agencies. But there are serious unanswered questions about a long-term solution, as the government has not clarified whether the refugees can stay beyond May 2016.

Recommendations

“Without cooperation between governments to combat human trafficking, grave human rights abuses will again be perpetrated against some of Southeast Asia’s most vulnerable and desperate people,” said Anna Shea.

“Governments must ensure that initiatives against traffickers do not put people’s lives or human rights at risk, which is what happened in May 2015. They must also act quickly to implement maritime search and rescue operations.”

Amnesty International is urging Southeast Asian states to act now, and not wait for another human rights disaster at sea.

May 13, 2015

South East Asian governments must step up urgent search and rescue efforts to ensure that thousands of people stranded in boats are not left in dire circumstances and at risk of death, Amnesty International said, as another boat carrying hundreds of people thought to be migrants and asylum seekers in desperate conditions is currently awaiting rescue off the Thai coast. 

Amnesty International has confirmed that a boat crammed with some 350 people, including children, is currently drifting off the coast of Thailand and Malaysia. The hundreds of people, believed to be from Myanmar or Bangladesh, have been at sea for “many days”, possibly more than two months. Their crew abandoned them several days ago. The passengers are without food and water and are in urgent need of medical care. Thai Navy vessels are currently searching for the boat. 

“Governments in South East Asia must act immediately to stop this unfolding humanitarian crisis. It is crucial that countries in the region launch coordinated search and rescue operations to save those at sea – anything less could be a death sentence for thousands of people,” said Kate Schuetze, Amnesty International Asia Pacific Researcher. 

“It’s harrowing to think that hundreds of people are right now drifting in a boat perilously close to dying, without food or water, and without even knowing where they are.” 

Earlier today, a boat carrying some 500 people was found off the coast of Penang island in northern Malaysia. Malaysian authorities this week said they would use punitive measures, including pushing back boats and deporting migrants and refugees, to send the “right message” to irregular arrivals. 

“The Malaysian authorities have a duty to protect and not punish the hundreds of people who reached the country’s shores today. They must be given the medical care they desperately need, and in no circumstances be sent back to sea or transferred to a place where their rights or lives are put at risk,” said Kate Schuetze. 

“Comments by the authorities that they will turn back those arriving on boats are an affront to human dignity. What’s more, if authorities follow through with these threats, they will be violating Malaysia’s international legal obligations.” 

In the last few days, increasing numbers of people from Myanmar and Bangladesh have arrived by boat in Malaysia and Indonesia. At least one boat with some 400 people believed to be Rohingya was on Monday towed out to sea by the Indonesian Navy, off the coast of Aceh, after it was provided with food and fuel. 

A crackdown on irregular arrivals in Thailand seems to have forced smugglers and traffickers to look for new routes. The International Organization for Migration believes that 8,000 people may still be on boats close to Thailand. 

The thousands of people who have fled Bangladesh and Myanmar include vulnerable migrants, refugees such as Muslim Rohingya fleeing discrimination and violence in Myanmar, and victims of human trafficking. Many are desperate enough to put their own lives at risk by braving dangerous journeys at sea in order to escape unbearable conditions at home. 

“The thousands of lives at risk should be the immediate priority, but the root causes of this crisis must also be addressed. The fact that thousands of Rohingya prefer a dangerous boat journey they may not survive to staying in Myanmar speaks volumes about the conditions they face there,” said Kate Schuetze.

By Kristin Hulaas Sunde
April 8, 2014

Amnesty supporters worldwide wrote letters supporting U Kyaw Hla Aung in prison in Myanmar. This 75-year-old lawyer from the persecuted Rohingya minority has been jailed repeatedly for his peaceful political work. After being released last October, he tells us what he is fighting for.

What does it mean to be Rohingya in Myanmar?

People are afraid of us because we are Muslims. The government doesn’t want to give us citizenship, even though we were born here and have lived in Rakhine State [western Myanmar] for a long time. They have been calling us Bengalis [from Bangladesh] since 1971. Their policy is to get the Rohingya people out of this country.

U Kyaw Hla Aung holding his National Registration Card, a document from the 1950s that proves that he has lived in Myanmar for a long time.

You were released from prison on 7 October 2014 after more than a year. Why were you there?

As I am a lawyer they disliked that I was meeting with ambassadors and journalists, so they made up a case against me and arrested me.

You received letters from Amnesty supporters worldwide. What did that mean to you?

I was very happy to receive the letters in prison – they encouraged me, my health and my morale. I am so thankful because the letters brought attention to me so that the prison authorities had to take care of me and my health.

You are married with seven children. How has your activism affected you and your family?

They hardly survived when I was in prison. My daughter had to travel to the prison every week to give money to the police, so I could get food.

Where do you live now?

I live in a bamboo hut in a camp for internally displaced people near Sittwe [the Rakhine state capital]. It’s difficult for me to live here - I can’t do things openly because the government is watching me. The community doesn’t want me to leave, but my health isn’t good, and my children can’t get an education or medical help.

What needs to happen to help the Rohingya?

The government needs to give us citizenship and the international community should also recognize the Rohingya as citizens of Myanmar.

How would you describe yourself?

Don't write that I am the hero of the Rohingya community. I am doing these things for everybody.

Dr Tun Aung, sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment after an unfair trial, has been granted several reductions to his sentence (Photo: Amnesty International)

June 16, 2014 

We can confirm that Dr Tun Aung has been granted several reductions to his sentence, and according to the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) now has one year and one month left to serve in prison.

Dr Tun Aung, a community leader, doctor and family man, had been sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment after an unfair trial. 

He was arrested following riots which broke out between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Maungdaw, western Myanmar in June 2012. Independent eyewitnesses confirmed that Dr Tun Aung actively tried to calm the crowd during the rioting and did not play any role in the violence. Nevertheless, he was convicted of inciting riots and of various other criminal offences. It is likely that the authorities were looking for people to blame in the aftermath of the violence. Dr Tun Aung may have been targeted because he is a Muslim community leader.

His case was featured in Amnesty International's 2013 Write for Rights campaign, the world's biggest human rights event. Thousands of people all over the globe wrote letters on behalf of Tun Aung and sent them to Myanmar's President Thein Sein. We believe the positive developments in Dr. Tun Aung's case come as a result of the ongoing campaigning of Amnesty - and others - for his release, including the over 100,000 appeals that were sent as part of the Letter Writing Marathon. 

A member of Amnesty International received a letter from the MNHRC confirming that Dr Tun Aung was transferred to Insein prison on 6 February 2014. In the letter, signed and sent by Commissioner Secretary Sit Myaing and dated 29 May 2014, the MNHRC states that "Letter[s] from various chapters of Amnesty International requesting, among others, the immediate release of Dr Tun Aung without conditions were received by the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission. The Commission after proper examination of these letters conveyed them to the authorities in order that the concerns expressed in the letters receive carefully consideration".

The letter continues: "With a view to obtaining first-hand information of Dr. Tun Aung, a team from the MNHRC visited Sittwe Prison on 11 November 2013 and had interviewed him exclusively to find out the situation".

The letter states that Dr. Tun Aung was granted a nine year reduction to his sentence as a result of the December 2013 Presidential pardon and a further one year reduction as a result of a Presidential order of 20 January 2014. The letter also states that he received other reductions under the terms of the Prison Manual. According to the MNHRC, as a result of these reductions, Dr. Tun Aung now has one year and one month left to serve in prison. The MNHRC also asserts that Dr. Tun Aung is receiving regular medical attention while in Insein prison, including specialist medical treatment and that his family can visit him in prison.

This is a fantastic result in Dr. Tun Aung's case. At one point he was facing 17 years in prison, now he is likely to be released in just over a year - but that is still not enough. This case shows that the authorities are susceptible to international pressure, and we will continue to urge the Myanmar government to immediately release Dr Tun Aung.



December 14, 2013

An Amnesty International Southeast Asia Campaigner recently explained how a passion for Myanmar led her to become an Amnesty International activist, and why Dr Tun Aung needs your help.

I’ve had a strong interest in civil and political rights since I was a teenager in Ireland. My father was a lifelong member of Amnesty International, so I was always aware of the organization. At university, I focused on the underlying causes of communal tensions between Indian and Burman communities in Rangoon in the 1930s for my postgraduate research. I’ve also been there. It was a combination of these factors that led me to work on Myanmar for Amnesty International. 

The political situation in Myanmar has become quite fluid in recent years. According to the government, over 28,000 prisoners have been released in amnesties since it came to power in March 2011. These included hundreds of prisoners of conscience, but hundreds of others have been arrested or continue to be detained for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. 

Amnesty International activists can play a major role in keeping the pressure on Myanmar’s government to stop such abuses. In Write for Rights 2010, members in 33 countries took more than 45,000 actions calling for the release of a peaceful political activist, Su Su Nway. I’m certain that that’s one reason why she was included in the new government’s first major prisoner amnesty.

I’m hoping we can do this again this year for Dr Tun Aung (pictured on the stamp image above), whose case I first heard about a few weeks after his arrest in June 2012

He is, by all accounts, a family man – a father and grandfather – who actively promoted tolerance among the ethnic and religious groups in Rakhine state. The local authorities considered him an ally who could help smooth intercommunity relations if tensions arose.

On a Friday afternoon in June, the authorities asked Dr Tun Aung to calm a crowd of men outside a mosque in Maungdaw, western Myanmar. The men were angry about the massacre of 10 Muslims one week earlier by a mob of Buddhists who were seeking revenge for the alleged rape and murder of a Buddhist woman.

Dr Tun Aung did his best to restore calm, but the crowd wouldn’t listen. He was arrested several days later and is serving a 17-year prison sentence after being convicted of multiple criminal offences, including inciting a riot. Aged 66, he has a tumour on his pituitary gland and needs medical care.

It’s really important for us to make Dr Tun Aung’s case visible to a wide audience – which is why he is a Write for Rights 2013 appeal case. That way, he will remain in the minds of Myanmar officials when they are deciding on their next prisoner amnesty – as happened with Su Su Nway.

Dr Tun Aung should be released immediately so that he can return to being a family man, a community leader and a doctor. I firmly believe that Amnesty International members around the world will play a vital role in securing his freedom.


Rohingya Exodus