Myanmar and the Rohingya

204
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCVxkBAoq-0
Published on March 21, 2020 by

More than 700 thousand Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar into neighboring Bangladesh. Their villages were torched, civilians attacked, raped and massacred. A pattern of systematic persecution that the UN says is genocide.

Images of Rohingya refugees fleeing their homes were broadcast around the world. Escaping a campaign of persecution in Myanmar, they crossed the Naf River, a natural frontier with Bangladesh. Refugees waded or floated across on flimsy boats. The crisis sparked an outcry from the international community. The United Nations described Myanmar’s actions first as ethnic cleansing, then as genocide against the Muslim minority. Myanmar’s leader, the Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, was criticized for remaining silent as the persecution continued, but she defended her country against genocide charges at the UN International Court of Justice.

To outsiders, the violence appeared to come out of nowhere. Myanmar authorities said the army stepped in after an attack by a mysterious separatist group in Rakhine State. They described the attackers as “Bengali,” another name for Rohingya. Officials said the security operations were counter-terrorism measures aimed at maintaining public order. But the UN accused Myanmar of orchestrated killings, and said soldiers routinely and systematically employed rape, gang rape, and other violent and forced sexual acts against the civilian population. The persecution sparked an exodus that within just a few weeks de-populated a land area the size of one of Germany’s federal states. The film team traveled to Myanmar and Bangladesh to investigate the accusations that Myanmar planned its ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya.

For more visit: https://www.dw.com/en/top-stories/s-9097

Category Tag
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments