By Devin Dubon
Over half a million Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar have fled the country in response to what many are calling genocide and ethnic cleansing.
Flight of nearly half million Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar is fastest exodus since aftermath of Rwandan genocide. https://t.co/TsxpVJZR7k pic.twitter.com/suUpsnmgic
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) September 27, 2017
The crisis began in October 2016 when Myanmar border posts were attacked by Rohingya insurgents. In response, the Myanmar government began cracking down on the Rohingya people, resulting in thousands of deaths, mass relocation and the displacement of refugees.
Police have been accused of murder, rape, arson, and infanticide — yet the Myanmar government have repeatedly denied these allegations. Government officials have stated that, “there is no ethnic cleansing and no genocide in Myanmar,” and has dismissed all claims of such as “exaggerations.”
The crackdown was exacerbated on August 25th when Rohingya insurgents attacked Myanmar army posts. As a counterattack, over 200 Muslim villages were burned down
Prime minister Aung San Suu Kyi has been under fire for her response to the crisis. Many are calling for her Nobel Peace Prize to be rescinded for her repeated denials of any wrongdoing on the government’s part.
It’s the worst ethnic cleansing you’ve never heard of, says @NickKristof https://t.co/h8ZBMzlJwd pic.twitter.com/Jo2Nnceuyz
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) January 11, 2016
UN secretary-general António Guterres said the conflict had become “the world’s fastest developing refugee emergency and a humanitarian and human rights nightmare.”
Bangladesh has been the destination for most of the refugees, having taken in around 73,000 Rohingyans, and warn that their relief camps can take no more. Myanmar have claimed that the mass exodus is actually in response to “terrorists” and not genocide. But according to Masud Bin Momen, Bangladesh’s representative to the UN, this is not the case.
“Any individual among the new arrivals would make it known why this exodus is continuing. They all narrate use of rape as a weapon to scare families to leave,” he said. “Available reports suggest that villages after villages have been burnt; people have been looted and abused in the Rakhine state. These atrocities attest that the Myanmar government is using arson to depopulate northern Rakhine and take over ownership of lands.”
The world's fastest growing refugee crisis is now #Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh – help us stop the violence: https://t.co/rOd9MTjPfh pic.twitter.com/hOfxAS9Xhz
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) September 19, 2017
Many activists and international organizations have condemned the Myanmar government for its treatment of the Rohingya people. Both Amnesty International and the United Nations have accused Myanmar of crimes against humanity, along with the international community calling on the United Nations Security Council to intervene in any way possible to mitigate the conflict.
