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Fire in Du Char Yar Tan (Photo: Ministry of Information/Myanmar)

By Gianluca Mezzofiore
January 29, 2014

Burmese police set fire to at least 70 Rohingya homes in the village of Du Char Yar Tan, where at least 48 Muslims were said to have been killed by a Buddhist mob amid renewed sectarian violence, it has been claimed.

Two eyewitnesses said that police burnt down the houses overnight. The village has been semi-deserted after the mob violence a week ago. Two hundred villagers were allowed to return in the area in the remote Maungdaw township in Rakhine state. 

"We are calling for an international investigation. Without protection, more Rohingya will die," Tun Khin, human rights activist and president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation in the UK, told IBTimes UK.

The Ministry of Information confirmed the incident on Facebook but blamed Muslim villagers who "burned their own homes".

The Burmese government has rejected international calls for a UN investigation into the recent massacre. Officials from the minister of foreign affairs denied that any Rohingya were killed but claimed that a policeman had been reported missing after he was attacked by Muslim villagers.

"We already have our own independent investigation commission, we don't need an international investigation," said deputy information minister Ye Htut, in response to US ambassador Derek Mitchell's call for international officials to be allowed in.

If verified, recent killings in the remote Maungdaw township in Rakhine State would be the deadliest incident since October 2012 and would bring the total death toll from religious conflict to 277 or more since 2012.

According to UN chiefs and human rights organisations, at least 48 people, many of them women and children, have been massacred in violence perpetrated by state security officials and local Rakhine residents.

'Like the Bosnian genocide'

The Myanmar government has flatly denied the killings, describing reports of a massacre as "misinformation" and accusing foreign media of distortion. Official government reports claimed that local police were threatened by an armed Muslim mob, but that there were no civilian casualities.

"An international investigation is the only way to establish the facts," Tun Khin told IBTimes UK. "The situation in Myanmar's Rakhine state is similar to what happened in Bosnia during the 1992-95 war."

Violence against Myanmar's Muslims has intensified over the past two years, incited in part by extremist monks and the virulently anti-Muslim '969' campaign, who espouse hate and urge Buddhists to boycott Muslim businesses.

Khin said that 1,000 members of the 969 Buddhist movement moved to Rakhine state from other parts of the country to allegedly start a hate campaign against Muslims.

Some people have been threatened by extremists and told "you have to leave, otherwise your fate is going to be like your other Muslim people", a Rohingya activist told IBTimes UK.

Others living as a minority in Buddhist areas have simply fled out of fear.

IBTimes UK's source described families moving from various towns across the country, with many now hiding from authorities and living illegally in Muslim areas of Yangon, afraid that they will be locked up or returned to their home towns.

Local Buddhists are also being threatened for associating with Muslims. The political activist described extremist monks as "like the mafia", exerting powerful influence over local communities.

"They say 'if you do business with the kalar [racist slur for Muslims] we will brand you as a traitor to the nation, to the religion and to the community'."

A Muslim woman, whose home was burnt down during recent violence, cries in Pauktaw village, outside of Thandwe in the Rakhine state, October 3, 2013 (Photo: Reuters)

By Gianluca Mezzofiore
January 23, 2014

Buddhist authorities have allegedly ordered a round-up of all male Rohingya, including children over the age of ten, in areas surrounding the Myanmar village of Du Char Yar Tan (Duchidaran) where at least 40 Muslims were killed and several hundred displaced in renewed sectarian violence.

Rights groups have confirmed that Rohingya men and boys have gone into hiding to avoid mass arrests in the Rakhine state's village.

"These arbitrary detentions broaden the scope of the human rights violations in the area and should be immediately brought to an end," said Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights.

"There needs to be accountability for this wave of horrific violence in Maungdaw Township but mass arrests of Muslim men and boys are not the way."

Du Char Yar Tan is the site of the suspected killing of a police sergeant and subsequent revenge attacks against Rohingya Muslims by state security forces. The incident took place on the night of 14 January when Rakhine authorities entered the village and started shooting people directly.

Tun Khin, human rights activist and president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation in the UK, told IBTimes UK that access to the area is still forbidden for residents, humanitarian organisations, independent observers and the international and national media.

"The military are taking the dead bodies away from the village before the aid agencies and the international community steps in," he said. "The UN needs to go there before they clean all bodies. Why the international community stays silent?"

Myanmar's central government and Rakhine state government officials have denied that any violence took place in the Maungdaw Township and they accused Rohingya "mobs" of attacking police.

"The government should immediately provide unfettered humanitarian access to the area and grant access for national and international media," said Matthew Smith. "The authorities can't defensibly speak the language of human rights reform while sealing off the site of yet another massacre in Rakhine State."

The killing rampage against Rohingya started when a group of 23 Muslims from another township were travelling through Maungdaw with the intention of fleeing the country.

They encountered a group of Rakhine Buddhists who allegedly abducted eight of the Rohingyas. On 11 January, local Rohingya allegedly discovered a fresh grave with body parts in the area.

In the violent confrontation that followed between Buddhist residents and Rohingya villagers, a police sergeant was abducted and allegedly killed by Rohingya.

The incident prompted another operation by riot police and Buddhist residents who entered the village and brutally attacked Rohingya who had not yet fled. Muslim-owned properties in the village were looted.

The Rohingya have never been granted citizenship in Myanmar and a 1982 law excluded them from the list of officially recognised minorities.

Sectarian tension between Rakhine state's 800,000 Rohingya and their Arakanese Buddhist neighbours exploded in June 2012 after allegations that a gang of Rohingya men had raped an Arakanese woman. The Muslims were lynched in response, sparking days of rioting.

Rohingya Muslim women look out from their home at Aung Mingalar quarter in Sittwe (Photo: Reuters)

By Gianluca Mezzofiore
January 16, 2014

Buddhist authorities have allegedly opened fire on Rohingya Muslims in the Myanmar village of Du Char Yar Tan (Duchidaran), killing at least 16 people, including women and children, according to rights groups and a villager.

More than 100 people were also missing after Rakhine state police officials raided the village and loaded the remaining Rohingyas on tracks.

The incident took place on the night of 14 January when Rakhine authorities entered Du Char Yar Tan and started shooting people directly.

Tun Khin, human rights activist and president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation in the UK, said Burmese officials were trying to cover-up a recent discovery of a mass grave.

"The villagers were shocked because a worker had found the bodies of eight Rohingyas in a dump," he told IBTimes UK. "They took one corpse in the village and went to the police outpost to discuss the matter with authorities."

Khin alleges that security forces then raided the village "to hide this crime" - with reference to the killing of the eight Rohingyas.

According to other rights groups, a Rohingya girl was raped in the rampage that followed.

The activist blames authorities for a "systematic pattern of violence" affecting Rohingyas in the Rakhine state.

"This is the policy they are implementing. They want to clear up Myanmar from Rohingyas. From the end of October to the 1st of January 2014, more than 18,000 Muslims have left the country. They want to drive people out of the country," he said.

The violence was confirmed by Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project, which has been documenting abuses against members of the Rohinyga Muslim minority for more than a decade.

Buddhist authorities of the Rakhine state have often been accused of crimes against the Muslim minority.

Rakhine state spokesman Win Myaing denied any deaths had occurred.

The Rohingya have never been granted citizenship in Myanmar and a 1982 law excluded them from the list of officially recognised minorities.

Sectarian tension between Rakhine state's 800,000 Rohingya and their Arakanese Buddhist neighbours exploded in June 2012 after allegations that a gang of Rohingya men had raped an Arakanese woman. The Muslims were lynched in response, sparking days of rioting.

Human Rights Watch has described the events in Myanmar as ethnic cleansing, and the United Nations has called for its government to provide Rohingya citizenship in the country.


Women pass their time in a Rohingya internally displaced person (IDP) camp outside of Sittwe (Reuters)
Gianluca Mezzofiore
International Business Times
May 15, 2013

Myanmar authorities have attempted to force Rohingya refugees in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state, to move closer to beach areas as the cyclone Mahasen approaches the exposed coast.

Sources speaking to IBTimes UK said that Rohingya Muslims refused any attempt to relocate as the cyclone, which has already killed at least seven people and displaced 3,881 in Sri Lanka, nears. 

The Myanmar government planned to move 38,000 internally displaced people, but many refused fearing the authorities’ intentions. 

Nay San Lwin, a Rohingya living in Germany with contacts in Sittwe, claimed that Rohingya “were forced to go” but only five families agreed. “100% confirmed that the authorities are forcing Rohingya refugees in Sittwe to move to the beach,” he said. “State Chief Minister warned today that will take serious action and President Office Minister Aung Min also told the same like at meeting in Yangon today.”

His report was confirmed by Aung Aung, a Rohingya living in a refugee camp in Sittwe. 
Mark Farmaner, of the Burma Campaign UK, confirmed to IBTimes UK that he heard reports of Rohingya forced closer to the beaches but was unable to confirm it. “Rohingya are still not being moved [to safety],” he said. 

Hla Maung said he lost his mother and two young daughters during the clashes between Muslims and Buddhists. 

He told the BBC: "I lost everything ... I don't want to go anywhere. I'll stay here. If I die, I want to die here," he said. 

At least 192 people were killed in June and October last year in sectarian clashes between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya. Reuters reported that people at a camp near the sea by Hmanzi Junction near Sittwe said they would rather prefer to die in the storm than evacuate. 

Farmaner said he is particularly concerned about the cyclone hitting Bangladesh. There are up to 250,000 Rohingya living in southern Bangladesh, many of whom fled from Myanmar in the early 1990s complaining of abuses by the army. 

UN says storm expected to make landfall in Chittagong: “In its strongest force, the cyclone will be hitting area where hundreds of thousands of refugee are stacked,” he said. “There are people very vulnerable in terrible condition and we’ve not heard any attempt by Bangladeshi government to move them. 

“Refugee living in official camps are already not in a very good condition. Those who live in unofficial camps, made of makeshift shelter, are in an appalling condition,” he added. 

About 140,000 people were displaced in June and a second wave of violence in October in western Rakhine state. 

Burma Campaign UK says the international community “applied the most low-level diplomacy” and failed to put pressure on the Burma government, who did nothing to prevent the crisis. 

“It’s already a humanitarian crisis but it will become an humanitarian disaster. Lives will be lost. If the international community had put pressure on Burma that could’ve been avoided.” 

Burma Campaign UK called on the British government and international community to take action to force President Thein Sein to allow unrestricted humanitarian aid, and stop violating international humanitarian law. 

At least 50 Rohingya Muslims were feared drowned on Tuesday when boats evacuating them from the path of the cyclone capsized off western Burma. 

In 2008, Cyclone Nargis killed more than 130,000 people in Myanmar.
(Photo: Reuters)
Gianluca Mezzofiore
International Business Times
April 8, 2013

Burma Campaign UK criticises President Thein Sein for oppressive policies against minority Muslims

Myanmar's government has violated at least eight international laws with its treatment of the Rohingya Muslims, one of the world's most persecuted minorities, according to a British-based advocacy group. 

Burma Campaign UK slammed the progressive president Thein Sein for policies of oppression applied exclusively to the Rohingya. The minority group is considered stateless under Burma's citizenship law of 1982. 

Legal constraints render it "almost impossible" for the Rohingya to be recognised as citizens of the country. "This violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and international norms prohibiting discrimination of racial and religious minorities," says the report.

Many Burmese consider Rohingya as unwelcome migrants from Bengal. The state-run press refers to "locals" differentiates between "locals" ie Arakan Buddhists and "Bengalis" to indicate Rohingya. Rohingya are denied access to education and employment and face "unacceptable restrictions on movement, marriage, and reproduction", adds the report. 

Following outbreaks of sectarian violence and repeated calls by UN authorities, the government has established a 27-strong commission to investigate trouble in Rakhine state - home to many Rohingya - but Thein Sein has ruled out reforming the 1982 Law and Medecins Sans Frontiers has faced restricted access to camps where Rohingya are displaced. 

Many ministries in the government have disputed the right of Rohingya to be in Burma at all. That gives "official legitimacy to those committing acts of violence" and allows them to continue doing so with impunity, said Burma Campaign UK. 

"World leaders need to take off their rose-tinted glasses and start making policy based on international law and promoting human rights," said Mark Farmaner, director. 

"Burma's treatment of the Rohingya violates international law. The international community must hold President Thein Sein accountable for the policies and actions of his government." 

The group has called on the British government and the international community "to provide a combination of pressure and of assistance, both in terms of humanitarian assistance and in terms of expertise" to reform the citizenship laws. 

To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail: g.mezzofiore@ibtimes.co.uk
Muslim men clean debris in front of a mosque heavily damaged during recent violence in town of Gyo Bin Gauk (Reuters)
Gianluca Mezzofiore
International Business Times
April 6, 2013

Buddhist Monk Saydaw Wirathu, the self-styled "Burmese bin Laden", has rejected claims that his 969 nationalist campaign was behind violence in central Myanmar's city of Meikhtila against Muslims. 

In an interview with Irrawaddy website, Wirathu blamed "kalar" - a scornful term for Muslims - for the Meikhtila sectarian riots that left at least 20 people dead. "They were carrying knives, sticks and other weapons and attacked the Burmese," he said. "When the crowd heard that one monk was killed during the unrest, they went to the kalar quarter without weapons. Only one Burmese person out of ten carried a stick from the ruined houses, and no other weapons. [...]So, the planned attacks came from the Muslim quarters." 

Wirathu, who has led numerous vocal campaigns against Muslims in Burma and was arrested in 2003 for distributing anti-Muslim literature, denied that the 969 campaign was responsible for the unrest. "People blame 969, saying it is involved in the atrocities because they cannot find the real culprits. [But] the 969 leaflets were not found and no one distributed it in Meikthila," he argued. "The 969 campaign was made the culprit, but actually it is innocent as it only represents the special attributes of the Buddha."

The numerology of 969 is derived from the Buddhist tradition in which 9 stands for the special attributes of Buddha; 6 for the special attributes of his teaching or Dhamma and 9 for the special attributes of the Sangha or Buddhist order. 

In a controversial video that emerged on YouTube, Wirathu called for a national boycott of Muslim businesses in Myanmar. Buddhist monasteries have been distributing anti-Muslim leaflets for months, according to reports. Wirahtu himself was arrested in 2003 for distributing anti-Muslim leaflets and has often stirred controversy over his Islamophobic activities.


According to the Democratic Voice of Burma, Wirathu played an active role in stirring tensions in a Rangoon suburb in February, by spreading unfounded rumours that a local school was being developed into a mosque, 

An angry mob of about 300 Buddhists assaulted the school and Muslim-owned businesses and shops in Rangoon. The 969 symbol was found spray-painted on damaged cars and Muslim buildings in other Myanmar areas after the Meikhtala riots. 

The monk also criticised Aung San Suu Kyi and her National league for Democracy (NLD) for not doing enough to protect Buddhists in Myanmar. "I have been supporting Daw Aung San Suu Kyi through the years, but she was not a reliable leader during the Rakhine State [sectarian] unrest," he said, referring to last year's clashes between Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Burmese. 

"Nearly every NLD township office is operated by Muslims," he continued. "So I said the symbol of the NLD peacock is becoming a symbol for Muslims.[...] They are not very reliable in supporting the public in the case of the Arakan State riots. They don't stand on the side of the public. 

"They don't issue a specific statement to say that Rohingya [Muslims] are not a recognized national minority [in Burma] and they should condemn the killing of Arakanese [Buddhists] by Bengalis [Muslims]," he continued.

A Muslim man calls for prayers in a mosque damaged during recent violence in town of Minhla (Reuters)

    • Rohingya Exodus