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LONDON: Dozens of Rohingya women and children desperate to flee the violence in Myanmar are drowning while attempting to escape to Bangladesh by boat.
A Bangladeshi border guard, who asked not to be identified, told, guards had retrieved eight bodies on the Bangladeshi side of the Naf River on Wednesday alone, half of whom were children.
“No-one comes to collect these bodies. These people are so distressed, they are walking, coming across fields for five days, they hardly recognize their own relatives,” he said.
At least 164,000 refugees have fled their homes in Rakhine State in western Myanmar since August 25, to escape conflict between the military and Rohingya militants, according to the Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG), a grouping of humanitarian agencies in Bangladesh.
“They are not designed to travel on this rough sea, they are taking long detour. It’s not only the type of boat, it is the capacity, only made for five, six, or 10 people and they are taking double or triple that number sometimes,” he said.
The Rohingya are considered to be among the world’s most persecuted people – with predominantly Buddhist Myanmar saying they are Bangladeshi and Bangladesh saying they’re Burmese.
The government of Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, blames terrorists for starting the violence. Rohingya militants killed 12 security officers in border post attacks almost two weeks ago, according to state media, intensifying the latest crackdown.
Desmond Tutu begs Suu Kyi to help
As we witness the unfolding horror we pray for you to be courageous & resilient again. #Rohingya #PrayForRohingya pic.twitter.com/BIDSYY9e1X
— DesmondTutu Official (@TheDesmondTutu) September 7, 2017
Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto ruler of Myanmar as state counselor, has repeatedly come under criticism for her lack of action to help the Rohingya, a stark contrast to her previous image as a champion of human rights.
Outrage grows in Bangladesh
As refugees continue to pour across the border, discontent is growing inside Bangladesh at the ongoing violence in their neighboring Rakhine State.
A protest in the capital Dhaka is planned for Friday, with thousands of people expected to attend.
The Bangladeshi government summoned the Myanmar ambassador to raise concerns about reports of landmines being laid on the border in the path of refugees.
There have been reports of Rohingya being crippled after stepping on the hidden mines while making their way to safety across the border.
In total, 414 people have now been killed since the violence began in Rakhine State in recent weeks, according to a statement from the Myanmar government.
“It’s possible the Myanmar military has planted the mines. There is no one else who could do it,” a senior Bangladeshi border guard told media.
Pakistan urges world to put pressure on Myanmar
Islamabad has urged the world to put pressure on Myanmar, where renewed violence has forced out tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims.
Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif says the Rohingyas’ plight is “a challenge to the conscience” of the world and that Pakistan was committed to providing humanitarian aid to them.
The ministry issued a statement containing Asif’s opening remarks at a conference of Pakistani diplomats on Thursday.
Political parties and clerics have organised rallies across Pakistan to express their solidarity with Rohingyas and to condemn Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi for the reported massacres of Rohingya Muslims.
The government of Myanmar has counted 400 deaths and says most were terrorists.
The latest violence began on Aug 25 after insurgent attacks on police. The government forces retaliated with what they called “clearance operations”.
UN says 146,000 have now fled Myanmar violence
The United Nations says some 146,000 people have fled Myanmar into Bangladesh since August 25.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday that the World Food Programme is appealing for $11.3 million to support the influx of people and those already living in camps.
The UN agency has provided food to tens of thousands of people, with Dujarric describing women and children arriving there as “hungry and malnourished.”
Dujarric also said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “is continuing his diplomatic contacts regarding the situation in Myanmar.”
The Myanmar government’s top security adviser claims an insurgent group that attacked 30 police posts two weeks ago is trying to carve out a separate Muslim state from the Buddhist-majority nation, and the armed forces are using maximum restraint in their operations against them.
Myanmar’s National Security Adviser Thaung Tun said at a news conference on Wednesday in the capital, Naypyitaw, that security forces are making every effort to avoid harming innocent civilians. He was responding to accusations that the army and police fired indiscriminately on civilians and razed Muslim Rohingya villages after the attacks on the police posts in Rakhine state.
Myanmar must allow humanitarian groups to distribute aid: Norway
Norway’s foreign minister called on Myanmar’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and her government to allow humanitarian groups to distribute aid in violence-wracked Rakhine state, deeming limits on their work “extremely serious.”
Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende said on Wednesday that the Norwegian government is deeply concerned about escalating violence and the deteriorating humanitarian situation of the Rohingya. He said “all groups must show restraint,” but stressed that “authorities, under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi, have a particular responsibility to protect civilians from abuses, to stop the violence and to ensure humanitarian access.”
‘Turkey wants a lasting solution to the plight of the Rohingya’
According to officials, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s wife is heading to Bangladesh to oversee the distribution of aid to Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and to highlight the crisis.
Erdogan’s office said on Wednesday that Emine Erdogan will be accompanied by her son, Bilal Erdogan, the family and social affairs minister, and senior Turkish aid officials during her visit to Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is also scheduled to depart for Bangladesh and is expected to visit a refugee camp and oversee the delivery of aid. He said on Wednesday that Turkey wants a lasting solution to the plight of the Rohingya.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says his country wants a lasting solution for the plight of Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar. Cavusoglu spoke on Wednesday in Baku, Azerbaijan, before travelling to Bangladesh where he’s expected to visit a refugee camp for Rohingya and oversee the delivery of humanitarian aid.
He says Turkey will also deliver ambulances to Bangladesh to help it cope with the refugee flows, Cavusoglu said. Cavusoglu said Turkey was determined not to “abandon” Rohingya and said his visit would help determine steps that can be taken to improve their conditions.
He says: “God willing, together with the international community, a lasting solution can be found.”
‘Still waiting’ for Suu Kyi to condemn violence against Rohingya, says Malala
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has condemned and called for an end to the violence against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority that has forced tens of thousands to flee and left nearly 400 people dead in clashes.
Malala said she is “still waiting” for her fellow Nobel Peace laureate and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to denounce the “shameful treatment” of the Rohingya.
“The world is waiting and the Rohingya Muslims are waiting [for Suu Kyi to condemn the violence],” the girls’ education advocate wrote in a Twitter post.
“If their [Rohingya’s] home is not Myanmar, where they have lived for generations, then where is it?” she questioned, stressing that members of the minority should be given citizenship in Myanmar.
India refuses to be part of global declaration against Myanmar
In yet another show of solidarity with Myanmar, India has refused to be a part of a declaration adopted at an international parliamentary forum conference in Indonesia as it carried “inappropriate” reference to violence in Rakhine state from where 1,64,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh.An Indian parliamentary delegation, led by Speaker Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan, distanced itself from the Bali Declaration adopted at the “World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development” held in Nusa Dua, Indonesia.
“This was in view of the fact that the declaration, which was to be adopted at the conclusion of the Forum, was not in line with the agreed global principles of “sustainable development,” a press statement issued by the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) Secretariat on Thursday night said.
India reiterated its stance that the purpose of convening the parliamentary forum was to arrive at mutual consensus for implementation of Sustainable Development Goals which requires inclusive and broad-based development processes, it said.
“Therefore, the proposed reference to the violence in Rakhine state in the declaration was considered as not consensus-based and inappropriate,” the statement said.
365,000 sign petition to strip Suu Kyi of her Nobel Prize
Thousands of people have signed an online petition calling for the Nobel committee to revoke Aung San Suu Kyi’s peace prize over the Myanmar government’s treatment of its Rohingya Muslims.
But the Norwegian Nobel committee has ruled out any such move, saying only that the work that led to the awarding of the prize was taken into account.
The Change.Org petition had gathered more than 365,000 signatures as of yesterday, reflecting growing outrage over a massive security sweep in Rakhine state by Myanmar forces after a series of deadly ambushes by Rohingya militants.
“The de facto ruler of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, has done virtually nothing to stop this crime against humanity in her country,” the petition says.
Ms Suu Kyi was awarded the prize in 1991 while under house arrest at the hands of Myanmar’s military junta, from which she was released in 2010.
She then went on to lead her party through the country’s first credible elections since its independence.
But her government has faced international condemnation for the army’s response to the crisis as refugees arrive in Bangladesh with stories of murder, rape and burned villages at the hands of soldiers.
Aung San Suu Kyi Dismisses Horrific Abuse Of Rohingyas As ‘Misinformation’
The plight of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims reached a grim benchmark this week, with the United Nations now estimating that more than 140,000 refugees have fled to neighboring Bangladesh in just 12 days to escape persecution.
Yet amid a crisis increasingly described as genocide, Myanmar’s state counselor and former Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, has dismissed the mounting reports of abuse as “misinformation.”
The Rohingya are a Muslim minority group from Rakhine state, where they have limited rights and are classified as illegal immigrants rather than citizens. They have long been victims of state-sponsored discrimination ― including what the U.N. has deemed possible crimes against humanity.
Rohingya militants attacked government security posts on Aug. 25, triggering renewed violence and a brutal retaliation by government forces that has prompted this latest exodus. In addition to those who have fled the country, tens of thousands of Rohingya are internally displaced.
Canada faults Myanmar government for failing to end violence
Canada is blaming Aung San Suu Kyi’s government and Myanmar’s military for failing to stop violence that has forced more than 120,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh in less than two weeks.
Parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Omar Alghabra said the Liberal government has asked Ms. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and honorary Canadian citizen, to find a way to stop the violence and to work with international partners to achieve peace. The Rohingya Muslims live in Rakhine state and suffer from serious restrictions on their basic rights.
Ms. Suu Kyi blamed “terrorists” for a “huge iceberg of misinformation” for the conflict in Rakhine in a statement this week.
“I don’t think we heard the end of this yet about what our role is going to be. As I said, we are still assessing the situation and we’re looking for ways for Canada to be constructive. We are in discussion as well with our embassy over there, with our officials on the ground.”
