[A Rohingya activist and resident of Maungdaw — one of three towns affected by the fighting — who would only be identified as Anwar for safety reasons, said villages were emptying as security forces burned homes. The government says residents are torching their own property.]
By
Joe Freeman
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A Rohingya refugee cries
upon arriving at a makeshift refugee camp called Kutupalang
in Cox’s Bazar,
Bangladesh, in August. (Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters)
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RANGOON,
Burma — Hundreds have died
in western Burma in clashes between insurgents and security forces, a dramatic
escalation of the Rohingya crisis that has haunted the country’s transition to
democracy and tainted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s legacy.
The increasing death toll follows reports
that tens of thousands more Rohingya Muslims have been displaced in the
conflict.
In some of the worst fighting in decades,
Burma’s army says 370 fighters tied to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army
(ARSA) have been killed since the group first moved on dozens of police posts
in the pre-dawn hours of Aug. 25. Fifteen members of Burma’s security forces
and civil service and 14 non-Muslim civilians died in the attacks and ensuing
clashes.
Though it emerged only a year ago with
origins in the diaspora, ARSA claims it fights for the more than 1 million
stateless Rohingya Muslims in Burma, also known as Myanmar. The government
calls it a terrorist organization.
The Rohingya, most of whom reside in Rakhine
state on the border with Bangladesh, are deeply unpopular in Burma, which is 90
percent Buddhist. The government insists they are immigrants from Bangladesh
despite generational roots. Burma disputes the very term “Rohingya,” preferring
“Bengali” or “Muslims in Rakhine state.”
[Analysis: The world’s ‘most friendless
people’ are under assault yet again]
A Rohingya activist and resident of Maungdaw
— one of three towns affected by the fighting — who would only be identified as
Anwar for safety reasons, said villages were emptying as security forces burned
homes. The government says residents are torching their own property.
He dismissed army assertions that the bulk of
the dead are ARSA fighters.
“All the people they killed are not ARSA
members,” he said. He added that the death toll was expected to rise.
Tens of thousands of Rohingya have fled to
Bangladesh since the Aug. 25 attack, monitors say, while more than 10,000
Buddhists have been internally displaced within the state. Hundreds of ethnic
minorities have also fled.
Members of the rights monitor Fortify Rights
are in Bangladesh speaking with Rohingya refugees.
“Right now villages are burning, people are
being killed, residents are fleeing for their lives,” Fortify Rights co-founder
Matthew Smith said. “I will say it’s shocking, and some of the survivors are
devastated by what they have experienced, what they have seen.”
Government officials say security forces are
rescuing civilians and engaging militants.
Thousands of mostly Rohingya Muslim refugees
trying to escape are stuck between the two countries, according to Lt. Col. Manzurul
Hassan Khan, a Border Guards Bangladesh official.
“They are under the open sky,” he said,
adding that most are women and children.
Vivian Tan, a spokeswoman for the U.N.
refugee agency, said Saturday that estimates of arrival numbers have not been verified,
but that a rough count by aid agencies on the ground is 60,000 since August 25.
For more than 30 years, Bangladesh has been a
destination for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya seeking refuge. United
Nations officials appealed to the Bangladeshi government to let new arrivals
in.
Some died trying to get out of Burma.
Bangladeshi officials have recovered the bodies of an estimated 42 Rohingya,
mostly women and children, who drowned after their boats capsized during the
journey, according to Cox’s Bazar deputy police chief Afruzul Haque Tutul.
Reports have circulated that Burmese security
forces fired on fleeing refugees, but the government denies the allegations.
“No, no, no, absolutely not,” said Zaw Htay,
spokesman for the office of Suu Kyi, Burma’s de facto leader, who came to power
last year after decades of military-backed rule.
“We are trying to control the situation and
bring stability to the region,” he said.
Critics say Suu Kyi has failed to stand up
for the Rohingya, while defenders argue she is hamstrung by a still-powerful
military, which ruled Burma for half a century.
[Burma faces ethnic violence. Has Aung San
Suu Kyi ignored the plight of her people?]
But when it comes to Rakhine state, the
government and the military seem to be speaking with one voice.
Most international aid workers left northern
Rakhine state after the government highlighted that supplies from international
aid groups, including USAID, had been found in raids on Rohingya fighter
positions. The U.S. ambassador to Burma, Scot Marciel, called the implication
that aid groups had supported ARSA “absurd.”
First called Harakat Al-Yakin, or Faith
Movement, ARSA emerged last year after raids on police posts in October killed
nine. The following military operation resulted in nearly 90,000 Rohingya
crossing into Bangladesh, allegations of possible crimes against humanity by
Burmese security forces and a U.N. probe that Burma has blocked.
Though the region has experienced
insurgencies since Burma became independent in 1948, the relationship between
Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists significantly deteriorated in 2012, just
as the country was opening up to the outside world.
Intercommunal clashes killed hundreds and
sent some 140,000 Rohingya to apartheidlike camps, where most remain today.
[Rohingyas are fleeing a scorched-earth
campaign in Burma. Bangladesh is sending them back.]
Myanmar’s national security adviser said this
week that the new insurgent group is intent on establishing an Islamic state in
Rakhine, but members counter that they only want rights enjoyed by all citizens
in Burma.
“Our status as a recognized ethnic group
within Myanmar must be restored,” a representative going by the name Abdullah
told the website Asia Times this week.
The insurgents are crudely equipped, and the
amount of public support they have is unclear. Raids have recovered small
stockpiles of weapons, but videos of training sessions show only a few dozen
scrawny and shabbily dressed fighters.
But the new burst of violence may rally
broader support and will no doubt complicate efforts to find a way forward in
Rakhine.
Days before the Aug. 25 attack, a commission
led by former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan presented a report with advice
on how to find a “peaceful, fair and prosperous future” for the people of the
state.
The government said it would set up a
committee to review the advice. Officials say that is still in the works but
the timeline has clearly changed.
Tin Maung Shwe, a spokesman for the Rakhine
state government, said that “this is different” than what happened on Oct. 9.
He said thousands of people had taken part in
the offensive.
“This is a terrorist attack,” he said.
“They’re waiting for when our guns jam, then they will attack with swords.”
Muktadir Rashid in Dhaka and Aung Naing Soe
in Rangoon contributed to this report.