Rohingya Muslims Suffered Under 'Apartheid' Regime For Years Before Brutal Crackdown, Amnesty Confirms
09 November 2017EsinIslam And Agencies
Rohingya Muslims were suffering under a humiliating "apartheid" regime for
years before a brutal military crackdown in August forced over 600,000 to flee
their homes in northern Burma to Bangladesh, a new report by human rights
group Amnesty International has confirmed.
The 110-page report, Caged without a Roof, follows a two year Amnesty
investigation into the "ghetto-like" existence of the Rohingyas in Rakhine
state, putting into context the recent wave of violence, where security forces
have torched villages and killed and raped civilians.
Rakhine's 1.1 million Muslim minority have been segregated and abused in what
amounts to an "open air prison", struggling to access healthcare and
education, and facing severe restrictions on their freedom to travel or even
tend their crops, Amnesty reveals.
"The Myanmar authorities are keeping Rohingya women, men and children
segregated and cowed in a dehumanising system of apartheid. Their rights are
violated daily," said Anna Neistat, Amnesty's Senior Director for Research.
"Although these rights violations may not be as visible as those that have hit
the headlines in recent months, they are just as horrific," she added, calling
for the cycle of abuse to end, to allow Rohingya refugees to return home and
live with dignity.
The repression of the Rohingya has intensified dramatically since 2012 when
violence between Burma's majority Buddhist and Muslim communities swept across
the state.
Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi attends the 13th Asia Europe Foreign
Ministers Meeting (ASEM) in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, November
In central Rakhine state, the Rohingya have been kept strictly locked down in
their villages and displacement camps, and sometimes not even allowed to use
roads, say activists.
Those who manage to gain permission face frequent police checkpoints where
they are allegedly harassed, forced to pay bribes, physically assaulted or
arrested.
One Rohingya man told Amnesty how he had personally witnessed such abuse when
his bus was stopped by police.
"There were four police in total, two of them beat the guys with a cane on
their backs, shoulders and thighs. Another slapped the lady four or five times
with his hand…After that they took them to the police station," he said.
Travel restrictions have become life-threatening barriers to urgent medical
treatment, and prevented access to markets and fields, leading to
malnutrition. Rohingya children are no longer allowed to attend previously
mixed government schools.
Ongoing repression led an armed, but disorganised, group of Rohingya
insurgents to attack security checkpoints on 25 August, which in turn sparked
ruthless army "clearing operations" and a mass exodus of civilians.
Amnesty has called for the end of apartheid conditions in Rakhine and for the
Rohingya to be granted citizenship rights.
"Rakhine state is a crime scene. This was the case long before the vicious
campaign of military violence of the last three months," said Ms Neistat.
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