Tragic events in Myanmar. Burma Knot: What is happening to the Rohingya Muslims. When did the current outbreak begin?
Over the past week, the world has learned that a religious-ethnic conflict between Buddhists and Muslims, Arakanese and Rohingya has been going on in Myanmar for decades. More than 400 people have become victims of another escalation of the situation over the past 10 days, and 123 thousand people were forced to flee Myanmar. What are the reasons for the historical confrontation? What's really happening in Myanmar? Why did clashes between ethnic groups so shake up the entire Muslim world and beyond?
Where is Myanmar anyway?
Myanmar is a country located in Southeast Asia, in the western part of the Indochina Peninsula. Myanmar has a population of about 60 million people from 135 ethnic groups, 90% of them Buddhists.
The country is divided into 7 administrative regions and 7 states (national regions). One of these states is Rakhine, located on the west coast of the country next to Bangladesh. Its population is about 3 million people, the majority of whom are representatives of the Arakanese people who practice Buddhism (the state also has an alternative name - Arakan). A minority of the state's population (about 1 million people) are Rohingya who practice Islam.
Where did it all start?
The Rohingya consider themselves one of the indigenous peoples of Myanmar. However, in Naypyitaw (the capital of Myanmar) they are considered either separatists or refugees from Bangladesh. This is partly true - all thanks to Myanmar's colonial past.
It all started back in the 19th century, during the British colonization of the region: London actively attracted Muslims from Bengal (now Bangladesh) to Burma (the name of Myanmar until 1989) as a labor force. When World War II began, Burma was occupied by Japan. Local residents, in exchange for recognition of the country's independence, sided with Japan, and Bengali Muslims supported Great Britain. The number of victims of this confrontation in 1942 is estimated in tens of thousands of people.
In 1948, Burma gained independence from Britain, but not peace. The Rohingya began a guerrilla war to join neighboring East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Burma imposed martial law in the region. In the ensuing decades, the war between separatists and Burmese forces ebbed and flowed as the Rohingya became "the most oppressed people on earth."
Why “the most oppressed people”?
This is what human rights activists and the press nicknamed the Rohingya. Because they are not considered Myanmar citizens, they are deprived of all civil rights.
Rohingya cannot hold administrative positions, they are often denied medical care, they do not have the right to higher education, and not everyone receives primary education. The country has also banned Rohingya from having more than two children.
Representatives of this people cannot legally leave the country; even within Myanmar, their movement is limited, and tens of thousands of Rohingya are kept in camps for displaced persons - that is, on reservations.
What happened now?
Another round of conflict. The situation escalated sharply on August 25 this year. Hundreds of separatists from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ASRA) attacked 30 police strongholds, killing 15 police and military personnel. After this, the troops began an anti-terrorist operation: in just one week, the military killed 370 Rohingya separatists, and 17 local residents were also reported accidentally killed.
A Myanmar police officer inspects a burnt house in Maung Daw, Myanmar. August 30, 2017. Photo: Reuters However, Rohingya refugees talk about thousands of villagers killed, the destruction and burning of their villages, atrocities, torture and gang rapes committed en masse by soldiers and police or local volunteers.
At the same time, testimonies of Buddhists living in Rakhine began to appear on the Internet and the world media, talking about exactly the same massive crimes against humanity committed by both Rohingya militants and simply their Muslim neighbors.
What is it really like?
Nobody knows exactly what is happening in western Myanmar now - martial law has been declared in the state. Journalists and human rights organizations are not allowed into Rakhine.
In addition, Naypyitaw denied the UN supply of basic necessities, water and medicine for the Rohingya affected by the clashes. The Myanmar authorities do not accept help from other humanitarian organizations.
And yes, international inspectors are also not allowed into the conflict zone.
What is the world reaction?
Last week, Britain demanded that the situation of the Rohingya people in Myanmar be reviewed at a special meeting of the UN Security Council, but the proposal was rejected by China. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls on Naypyidaw to resolve the conflict on a permanent basis.
Many world leaders also condemned the violence in Myanmar and called on the country's authorities to take control of the situation.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sharply criticized the actions of the Myanmar authorities. On September 1, he accused the country's authorities of genocide of the Rohingya.
“If it were my will, if it were possible, I would launch a nuclear strike there. I would simply destroy those people who kill children, women, and old people,” said the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, on September 2. And on September 3, a rally was held in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, which, according to local police, attracted about a million people.
Various protests also took place in Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh and other countries.
So, what is happening to the Rohingya now?
They are leaving Rakhine en masse, as happened in 1989, 2012, 2015, after each escalation of the religious-ethnic conflict.
The Rohingya have little choice of where to flee. The state borders Bangladesh, so the main streams of refugees rush to this country by land - but no one is waiting for them there. Bangladesh is already one of the most densely populated countries in the world; moreover, in recent years, according to various estimates, from 300 to 400 thousand representatives of this people have already accumulated in refugee camps in the country, of which 123 thousand Rohingya - in the last 10 years alone days.
A boat carrying Rohingya fleeing Myanmar capsized in the Naf River. The bodies of the dead were discovered by Bangladeshi border guards. August 31, 2017. Photo: Reuters The Rohingya are also fleeing to India - by sea: but they are not welcome there either. The Indian authorities have announced their intention to expel 40 thousand Rohingya, despite the fact that the UN has recognized some of them as refugees, and international law prohibits the expulsion of refugees to a country where they may be in danger. But New Delhi counters with the fact that the country has not signed the convention on the status of refugees and all illegal immigrants will be deported.
Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia accept some of the Rohingya. But even in Muslim Malaysia, the authorities refused to issue refugee certificates to all Rohingya without exception, explaining their decision by saying that this would lead to a massive influx of Muslims from Myanmar, which was “unacceptable” for the Malaysian leadership. At the same time, there are already at least 120 thousand Rohingya refugees in Malaysia.
The only country that has officially offered asylum to all Rohingya without exception is Ghana. But the Rohingya hope to be able to live in the country they consider their homeland, and not in West Africa.
Will they be able to?
Unfortunately, there is no answer to this question.
For a long time, Myanmar was ruled by a military junta, which resolved all issues with the Rohingya using the only method - force.
In 2016, liberal democratic forces came to power in Myanmar for the first time in half a century, although 25% of deputies in both houses of parliament are still appointed by the army leadership. The post of president was taken by the representative of the National League for Democracy party, Thin Kyaw, and party leader Aung San Suu Kyi received the post of foreign minister and state councilor (a position roughly equivalent to the prime minister). Aung San Suu Kyi is the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. She was under house arrest for almost 15 years, where she was imprisoned by the military junta.
The Western press called her a recognized fighter for democratic values and a friend of many famous Western leaders. However, Western media now indicate that little has changed since her party came to power in the country.
In fact, Aung San Suu Kyi, according to the Constitution, has no influence on the country’s military forces, which have a special status in Myanmar.
A year ago, she created a special commission on Rohingya issues, headed by Kofi Annan. Over the course of a year, the commission constantly visited Rakhine State, discussed the situation with local residents - the Arakanese and Rohingya - and documented in detail everything that was happening. Based on the results of the collected material, on August 24, 2017, the commission published a 70-page report with recommendations on how the Myanmar government can overcome the current situation. And on August 25, separatists from ASRA attacked government checkpoints and another escalation of the conflict began.
According to the International Anti-Crisis Group, the leader of ASRA is Ata Ulla. He is a Rohingya, born in Pakistan but raised in Saudi Arabia. There he received his religious education and still maintains close ties with this country and receives financial assistance from it. It is believed that ASRA separatists are being trained in training camps in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Last Sunday, Muslim rallies against discrimination against the Islamic population of Myanmar were held in Moscow and other cities around the world. In August, members of the armed group Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacked several dozen military targets. In response, Myanmar authorities launched an extensive anti-terrorist operation, during which dozens of Muslims were killed and which the international community calls genocide of the country's Islamic population. What are the reasons and why this conflict cannot be called religious - in the material of “Futurist”.
What's happening in Myanmar?
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar - this is how the country began to be called recently, having got rid of the military dictatorship that had been in power since 1962. It consists of seven provinces inhabited by Buddhist Burmese and seven national states that have never recognized a central government. There are more than one hundred ethnic groups in Myanmar. The diverse ethnic, religious, and criminal groups inhabiting these regions have been waging civil wars for decades—against the capital and against each other.
The conflict between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists has been going on for decades. The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority in Myanmar. They make up approximately 1 million of Myanmar's more than 52 million people and live in Arakan State, which borders Bangladesh. The Myanmar government denies them citizenship, calling them illegal Bengali immigrants, while the Rohingya claim to be indigenous to Arakan.
One of the bloodiest clashes occurred in 2012. The reason was the death of a 26-year-old Buddhist woman. Then dozens of people died, and tens of thousands of Muslims were forced to leave the country. The international community made no attempt to resolve the conflict.
Another escalation of the conflict occurred on October 9, 2016, when about 200 unidentified militants attacked three Myanmar border posts. And in August 2017, fighters from the local armed group Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacked 30 army installations and police stations and killed 15 people. They declared this an act of revenge for the persecution of their compatriots.
The international community calls the retaliatory anti-terrorist operation a genocide of Muslims in the state of Arakan - not only the Rohingya, but also representatives of other ethnic groups. Hundreds of people have been arrested on suspicion of terrorism. According to Myanmar authorities, as of September 1, 400 “rebels” and 17 civilians had been killed. Fleeing refugee camp residents told Reuters the army and Buddhist volunteers were torching Muslim villages, forcing them to flee to Bangladesh. On the morning of September 1, Bangladeshi border guards found on the river bank the bodies of 15 refugees who drowned during the crossing, 11 of them were children. According to the UN, more than 120,000 refugees have crossed into Bangladesh over the past two weeks, creating a migration crisis.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov demanded that the UN intervene and stop the violence. In Moscow, near the Myanmar embassy, Muslims staged a spontaneous rally against genocide.
Why don't Buddhists like the Rohingya?
There are several theories about the origin of the Burmese Rohingya. Some scientists believe that the Rohingya migrated to Myanmar (then called Burma) from Bengal primarily during the period of British rule. The British annexed the aspiring state of Arakan in 1826 and facilitated the migration of Bengalis there as labor. Some of the Rohingya came to Burma after the country declared independence in 1948, as well as after the liberation war in Bangladesh in 1971. Traditionally, this people has a high birth rate, so the Muslim population has grown rapidly. The second theory (followed by the Rohingya themselves) suggests that the Rohingya are descendants of the Arabs who colonized the Indian Ocean coast in the Middle Ages and also lived in the state.
The first serious clash between the Rohingya and Arakanese Buddhists was the Rakhine massacre in 1942. During World War II, Burma, then still a British dependency, was captured by Japan. The Rohingya Muslims remained on the side of the British, while the Buddhists supported the Japanese, who promised independence for the country. The Buddhist troops were led by General Aung San, the father of Aung San Suu Kyi, the current leader of Myanmar's Democratic Party. According to various estimates, tens of thousands of representatives of both sides were killed, but there is still no objective figure. After the Rakhine massacre, separatist sentiments in the region worsened.
The military dictatorship that ruled Burma for half a century relied heavily on a blend of Burmese nationalism and Theravada Buddhism to consolidate its power. Ethnic and religious minorities such as the Rohingya and Chinese were discriminated against. General Nain's government passed the Burmese Citizenship Law in 1982, which declared the Rohingya illegal. With the end of military rule and the rise to power of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's allies at the end of 2015, the Rohingya were expected to receive Myanmar citizenship. However, authorities continue to deny the Rohingya political and civil rights.
How does discrimination manifest itself?
The Rohingya are considered "one of the most persecuted minorities in the world." They cannot move freely throughout Myanmar, receive higher education, or have more than two children. The Rohingya are subjected to forced labor and their arable land is taken away from them. A February 2017 UN report said locals, the army and police beat, killed and raped Rohingya.
To escape violence, Rohingya are trafficked illegally to Malaysia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Thailand. In turn, these countries do not want to accept refugees - which is why they are subject to international pressure and condemnation. At the beginning of 2015, according to the UN, about 24 thousand Rohingya tried to leave Myanmar on smugglers' boats. The remains of more than 160 refugees have been discovered in abandoned camps in southern Thailand as smugglers held Rohingya hostage, beating them and demanding ransom for their lives. As Thai authorities tightened controls across the border, smugglers began throwing people into “boat camps” where they died of hunger and thirst.
The refugee problem has not yet been resolved. In particular, the government of Bangladesh in February 2017 announced a plan to resettle all Rohingya refugees on the Tengar Char island, which was formed 10 years ago in the Bay of Bengal - it is prone to floods and there is a complete lack of infrastructure. This caused outrage among human rights organizations.
Aren't Buddhists against violence?
“The world media talks exclusively about Muslims who suffered and says nothing about Buddhists,” says orientalist Pyotr Kozma, who lives in Myanmar. “Such one-sided coverage of the conflict has given Myanmar Buddhists a feeling of being under siege, and this is a direct path to radicalism.”
It is traditionally believed that Buddhism is one of the most peaceful religions. But despite the fact that Buddhists and Muslims are involved in this conflict, it is incorrect to view it as inter-religious. We are talking about the status of a certain ethnic group. Experts say that Buddhists have coexisted with Myanmar's Muslims for centuries: Hindus, Chinese, Malabari, Burmese and Bengalis. The Rohingya, being refugees according to one version of their origin, fall out of this “conglomerate of nationalities.”
3-Sep-2017, 10:13
More than 400 people have died in the conflict in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) between government forces and Rohingya Muslims that erupted a week ago. Tengrinews.kz reports this with reference to Reuters.
According to local authorities, it all started when “Rohingya militants” attacked several police posts and army barracks in Rakhine state (the old name of Arakan - approx.).
Myanmar's army said in a statement that there have been 90 clashes since August 25, during which 370 militants were killed. Losses among government forces amounted to 15 people. In addition, the militants are accused of killing 14 civilians.
Due to the clashes, some 27,000 Rohingya refugees have crossed the border into Bangladesh to escape persecution. At the same time, as Xinhua reports, almost 40 people, including women and children, died in the Naf River while trying to cross the border by boat.
The Rohingya are ethnic Bengali Muslims resettled in Arakan in the 19th and early 20th centuries by British colonial authorities. With a total population of about one and a half million people, they now make up the majority of the population of Rakhine State, but very few of them have Myanmar citizenship.
Officials and the Buddhist population consider the Rohingya to be illegal migrants from Bangladesh. The conflict between them and the indigenous “Arakanese” - Buddhists - has long roots, but the escalation of this conflict into armed clashes and a humanitarian crisis began only after the transfer of power in Myanmar from the military to civilian governments in 2011-2012, explains RIA Novosti
Meanwhile, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called the events in Myanmar “genocide of Muslims.” “Those who turn a blind eye to this genocide, committed under the guise of democracy, are its accomplices. The world media, which does not attach any importance to these people in Arakan, are also accomplices of this crime. The Muslim population in Arakan, which was four million half a century ago, "as a result of persecution and bloodshed, it has decreased by one third. The fact that the world community remains silent in response to this is a separate drama," Anadolu Agency quoted him as saying.
“I also had a telephone conversation with the UN Secretary General. From September 19, meetings of the UN Security Council will be held on this issue. Turkey will do everything possible to convey to the world community the facts regarding the situation in Arakan. The issue will also be discussed during bilateral negotiations. Turkey will speak even if others decide to remain silent," Erdogan said.
The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, also commented on the events in Myanmar. “I read the comments and statements of politicians on the situation in Myanmar. The conclusion suggests itself that there is no limit to the hypocrisy and inhumanity of those who are obliged to protect MAN! The whole world knows that for a number of years events have been taking place in this country that are impossible not only to show, but and describe. Humanity has not seen such cruelty since the Second World War. If I say this, a person who went through two terrible wars, then one can judge the scale of the tragedy of one and a half million Rohingya Muslims. First of all, it should be said about Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi , the de facto leader of Myanmar. She has been called a champion of democracy for many years. Six years ago, the military was replaced by a civilian government, Aung San Suu Kyi, who received the Nobel Peace Prize, took power, and after that, ethnic and religious cleansing began. Fascist murder chambers are nothing compared to what is happening in Myanmar: massacres, rapes, burning of living people on bonfires under iron sheets, destruction of everything that belongs to Muslims. Last fall, more than one thousand Rohingya houses, schools and mosques were destroyed and burned. The Myanmar authorities are trying to destroy the people, and neighboring countries do not accept refugees, introducing ridiculous quotas. The whole world sees that a humanitarian catastrophe is happening, sees that this is an open crime against humanity, BUT IS SILENT! UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, instead of harshly condemning the Myanmar authorities, asks Bangladesh to accept refugees! Instead of fighting the cause, he talks about the consequences. And the UN High Commissioner for HUMAN RIGHTS, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, called on the Myanmar leadership to "condemn the harsh rhetoric and incitement of hatred on social networks." Isn't this funny? The Buddhist government of Myanmar is trying to explain the massacres and genocide of the Rohingya as the actions of those who are trying to carry out armed resistance. We condemn violence, no matter from whom it comes. But the question arises, what other choice is left to the people who have been driven into utter hell? Why are politicians from dozens of countries and human rights organizations silent today, making statements twice a day if someone in Chechnya simply sneezes from a cold?” the Chechen leader wrote in his
Rohingya Muslims are an ethnic minority living in Myanmar (Burma). They have no rights to citizenship, education, or free movement. Since 1970, hundreds of thousands of cases of violence and terror against this people by the Myanmar military have been recorded. International communities have repeatedly accused the Myanmar authorities of discrimination and genocide against the Rohingya. The latest news in this country literally blew up the Internet space and drew everyone's attention to this problem. Who are the Rohingyas and why are they being killed?
Who are the Rohingya Muslims?
The Rohingya are often described as the most oppressed and persecuted ethnic and religious minority in the world. They are ethnic Muslims living in Myanmar, where the majority of the population is Buddhist. The Rohingya mainly live on the western coast of Myanmar's Rakhine state. Their number is about one million. There are approximately 135 different ethnic groups living in Myanmar. All of them are officially recognized by the Myanmar authorities, and only the Rohingya are called illegally resettled and are denied citizenship and education. The Rohingya live in the poorest areas, in special camps in ghetto conditions, often deprived of basic amenities and opportunities. Due to constant outbreaks of violence and persecution, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have migrated to nearby neighboring countries.
Where do the Rohingyas come from?
Although Myanmar authorities describe the Rohingya as illegal migrants brought in from neighboring Bangladesh during the 19th century by British colonial rule to be used as cheap labor, historical data indicates that Rohingya Muslims have been living in what is now Myanmar since the 7th century. th century. This is stated in the report of the National Rohingya Organization of Arakan. According to a Southeast Asian researcher, British historian Daniel George Edward Hall, the kingdom of Arakan, ruled by Indian rulers, was created as early as 2666 BC, long before the Burmese settled there. This further indicates that the Rohingya have been living in this area for centuries.
How and why are the Rohingyas persecuted? Why aren't they recognized?
Immediately after Myanmar's independence from Britain 1948, a citizenship law was adopted defining which nationalities have the right to citizenship. However, the Rohingya were not included in their number. However, the law allowed individuals whose ancestors had lived in Burma for at least two generations to qualify for Burmese identity cards.
At first, this provision actually served as the basis for issuing Burmese passports to the Rohingya and even granting citizenship. During this period, many Rohingyas even sat in parliament
But after the military coup 1962 The situation of the Rohingyas has deteriorated sharply. All citizens had to obtain national registration cards, but the Rohingya people were only issued documents of foreigners, which limited their opportunities for education and future employment.
Action of opponents of granting Myanmar citizenship to Rohingya Muslims
And in 1982, a new citizenship law was adopted, which, in essence, left the Rohingya without a state. Under this law, the Rohingya were not recognized as one of the country's 135 nationalities. In addition, citizens were divided into three categories. To qualify as a naturalized citizen with basic rights, an applicant must prove that his family lived in Myanmar before 1948, and he must be fluent in one of the national languages. Most Rohingya cannot provide such evidence because they have never received or could not obtain the relevant documents. Thus, the law has created many obstacles for Rohingya people to work, study, marry, worship, and receive medical services. They have no right to vote. And even if they manage to jump through all the bureaucratic pitfalls and obtain citizenship, they fall into the category of naturalized citizens, which implies restrictions on the ability to practice medicine, law, or be elected to elected office.
Since 1970, Myanmar authorities have cracked down on the Rohingya in Rakhine state, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. According to refugees, such conflicts were often accompanied by rape, torture, arson and murder by Burmese security forces.
“It is impossible to even imagine such monstrous cruelty towards the children of the Rohingya ethnic group: what kind of hatred can force a person to kill a child who is reaching out to his mother’s breast for milk. Moreover, the mother witnessed this murder. And at that time she was raped by members of the security forces - those who were supposed to protect her,” said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, who dealt with this conflict. - What kind of operation is this? What national security goals could be achieved during this operation?”
One of the very first large-scale operations against Rohingya Muslims dates back to 1978 The operation took place under the name "Dragon King". During it, dozens of houses and mosques were burned, more than 250 thousand people fled.
In 1991, a second military operation took place. Then, about 200 thousand Rohingya fled their homes due to persecution and violence. They mostly fled to neighboring Bangladesh.
In 2012 The conflict flared up again, during which more than 110 thousand Rohingya Muslims became refugees, about 5 thousand houses were burned and more than 180 people were killed.
In 2013 Riots between Muslims and Buddhists engulfed the town of Meithila in Mandalay Division. Within a week, 43 people were killed, 12 thousand people were forced to flee the city. The government declared a state of emergency in the city.
In October 2016 Myanmar authorities reported attacks on nine border guards. The authorities blamed so-called Rohingya militants for this. Referring to this, they began to send their troops into the villages of Raikhan State. During these operations, they burned entire villages, killed civilians, and raped women. However, the Myanmar government denied all these facts.
Recently, in August of this year, Myanmar authorities again blamed the Rohingya for attacks on police posts and again began their massive punitive measures.
According to local residents and activists, there have been cases where the military opened fire indiscriminately on unarmed Rohingya men, women, and children. The government, however, reports 100 killed “terrorists” involved in organizing attacks on police posts.
Since the beginning of the August conflict, human rights activists have recorded fires in 10 districts of Rakhine State. More people became refugees due to the unrest. 50,000 people while thousands of them were trapped in the neutral zone between the two countries.
Hundreds of civilians trying to cross into Bangladesh were pushed back by border guards, with many detained and expelled to Myanmar, according to the UN.
Geopolitical factor
According to candidate of political sciences Alexander Mishin, one of the significant factors in the persecution of the Rohingya is the geopolitical factor. The Rohingya live in a strategically important region in western Myanmar, on a stretch of sea coast overlooking the Bay of Bengal. According to Mishin, this is the most important corridor for China in terms of conducting trade operations with the countries of the Middle East and Africa, allowing it to reduce dependence on supplies through the Strait of Malacca. Oil and gas pipeline projects have already been implemented from the city of Kuakpuyu (Sittwe), in Rakhine State, to the Chinese province of Yunnan. Oil is supplied by pipeline to China from Saudi Arabia, and gas is supplied by Qatar.
Burmese Hitler - Ashin Wirathu
Ashin Wirathu is the leader of the radical terrorist group "969", which in the 90s began as a movement to boycott Muslim goods and services, and later grew into clearing Burma of Muslims. Ashin Wirathu uses Buddhist teachings to incite hatred against Muslims. In his sermons, he blames Muslims for all the troubles, and deliberately sows hatred, anger and fear in the hearts of his followers.
“Muslims behave well only when they are weak. When they become strong, they look like wolves or jackals, and in groups they begin to hunt other animals…. If you buy something in a Muslim store, your money does not stay there. They are used to destroy your race and your religion... Muslims are responsible for all crimes in Myanmar: opium, theft, rape,” he said more than once in interviews with journalists.
He and his followers have repeatedly taken part in violent riots against Muslims. The nine years in prison he spent on charges of organizing bloody riots did not change his position. Prison seemed to strengthen his conviction in his ideas. In September 2012, he demanded that the government deport the Rohingya back to Bangladesh and India. A few weeks later, further unrest broke out in Rakhine between the Burmese and the Rohingya.
The Times magazine even called Ashina Wiratha the “Face of Buddhist Terror”, and the Dalai Lama himself renounced him.
How many Rohingya have left Myanmar and where did they go?
Due to constant harsh persecution since 1970, about one million Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar. According to UN data published in May 2017, Since 2012, more than 168,000 Rohingya have crossed into Myanmar.
Only for the period from October 2016 to July 2017, according to the International Organization for Migration, 87 thousand Rohingya fled to Bangladesh.
Many risked their lives to get to Malaysia. They crossed the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. Between 2012 and 2015, more than 112 thousand people made these dangerous journeys.
For example, on November 4, 2012, a ship carrying 130 Rohingya refugees sank near the border between Myanmar and Bangladesh. And in 2015, more than 80 thousand Rohingya became hostages of the sea. None of the countries wanted to accept them. Some of the ships sank then, many died of thirst and hunger, and only a few managed to land on the shores.
According to the UN, about 420 thousand Rohingya refugees have found refuge in various countries in Southeast Asia. More than 120 thousand are scattered across the country in Myanmar.
This August alone, due to renewed violence and persecution, some 58,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh. Another 10,000 were trapped in the no man's land between the two countries.
How does the Myanmar government comment on the issue?
State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, who is the country's de facto leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, refused to discuss the plight of the Rohingya. She and her government do not recognize the Rohingya as an ethnic group and blame them for attacks on police.
The government has consistently rejected all accusations against them. In February 2017, the UN published a report stating that there was a "high likelihood" that crimes against humanity by the army had occurred following the latest tightening of security in Rakhine State in October 2016. At the time, authorities did not directly respond to the report's findings and said they had the "right to legally defend the country" from "increasing terrorist activity" and added that an internal investigation would suffice.
However, in April, Aung San Suu Kyi, in one of her few interviews with the BBC, noted that the expression “ethnic cleansing” was “too strong” to describe the situation in Rakhine.
The UN has repeatedly tried to investigate the use of violence against the Rohingya, but their access to sources has been severely limited. For example, in January, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, YangheeLee, reported that she was not allowed into some regions of Rakhine state, but was only allowed to talk with Rohingya, whose candidacies had been previously agreed upon with the authorities. Authorities also denied visas to members of a UN commission of inquiry into violence and alleged human rights violations in Rakhine.
As a result of the studies, the UN has repeatedly recommended that the Myanmar government stop using harsh military measures against civilians. But all these statements remained unheard.
The government often restricts journalists' access to Raikhan State. It also accuses charities of helping “terrorists.”
What does the international community say about the Rohingyas?
The international community calls the Rohingya "the world's most persecuted minority." The UN and several human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have consistently condemned Myanmar and neighboring countries for their mistreatment of the Rohingya.
For example, in April 2013, human rights activists from Human Rights Watch accused the authorities of conducting a “campaign to ethnically cleanse” Myanmar of the Rohingya.
In November 2016, the UN also accused the Myanmar government of ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims.
Many countries, leaders and famous personalities have expressed concern about the situation in Myanmar.
The Pope called on everyone to pray for innocent people.
“They have been suffering for years, they have been tortured, they are being killed just because they want to live according to their culture and their Muslim faith. Let us pray for them – for our Rohingya brothers and sisters,” he said.
Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama has repeatedly called on Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi to take action to end discrimination against Muslims.
Thousands of people held rallies in Jakkarta, Moscow and Grozny in support of the oppressed people. In some countries, fundraising is organized to help refugees. Turkey has demanded an end to genocide against Muslims and called on neighboring Bangladesh to open its borders to accept refugees, assuring them that it will pay all necessary taxes.
The US and UK have expressed their concern about the situation in Myanmar, but still do not lose hope that the leader of Myanmar, on whom they were betting heavily, will be able to correct the situation and stop the violence.
"Aung San Suu Kyi is rightly considered one of the most inspiring figures of our time, but the treatment of the Rohingya, alas, does not improve the reputation of Myanmar. She is experiencing enormous difficulties in modernizing her country. I hope she can now use all her wonderful qualities to unite country, stop the violence and end the prejudice that affects both Muslims and other communities in Rakhine," British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on September 3.
How did Kyrgyzstan react to these events?
News of the killings in Myanmar has rocked social media in Kyrgyzstan. Many Kyrgyzstanis are only now learning about the long-term persecution of the Rohingya. Never before has there been so much information about this people in the local media. The country's Foreign Ministry expressed its concern about the situation in Myanmar.
“The Kyrgyz Republic, guided by the UN and OIC charters, expresses serious concern about the current situation in Myanmar regarding the Muslim community and calls on all parties to the conflict to peacefully resolve the conflict,” the department said in a statement.
A football match between the national team of Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar, scheduled for September 5, was canceled due to concerns about the safety of players and fans.
Famous personalities of Kyrgyzstan condemned the situation around Myanmar.
“It’s impossible to watch without tears... there is no limit to indignation! In western Myanmar, government forces have killed at least 3,000 members of the Muslim Rohingya minority since late August. I mourn and protest! This shouldn’t happen!!!” - said Assol Moldokmatova.
What is fake and what is true?
After the Internet space literally exploded with photographs from Myanmar, many began to doubt the authenticity of these photographs. Some even said that all this was just the machinations of provocateurs and informational spins that did not correspond to reality. Of course, we did not have the opportunity to personally visit Myanmar to see the truth with our own eyes, but referring to those human rights activists who were directly at the scene of events, we can confidently say that although some of the photographs are not true, most of them reflect the deplorable reality.
“I hereby declare with full responsibility that Muslims in Arakan: men and women, children and old people are being slaughtered, shot, and burned. Most (with emphasis on the "o") part of the photographs we see are authentic. Moreover, there are thousands of other terrifying images from Arakan that you have not yet seen (and it is better for you not to see them),” says a lawyer from Russia
- last news. What is happening there that the clashes between Rohingya militants have become called “Muslim genocide”? What is the history of the conflict, and can a war in Asia really affect Russia?
The genocide of Muslims in Myanmar has taken a new turn. As TASS reports, citing Reuters, the Myanmar authorities made a radical decision and immediately implemented it. They mined the border with Bangladesh, where 125 thousand Roninya (Rohingya) refugees had already crossed over, so that the persecuted would not be able to return. Refugees are being housed in camps in southwest Bangladesh. According to the source, the operation to lay mines in the zone bordering Bangladesh has been going on for the third day.
According to UNICEF, 80% of internally displaced persons are children and women. The U.N. Children's Fund also said large numbers of children remained at risk in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state, the epicenter of the Rohingya sweep. Representatives of the fund were forced to stop their mission in Rakhine, continuing to work in the border area of Bangladesh, providing children with basic necessities, water and medicine.
History of the Myanmar War - Why are Rohingya Muslims oppressed?
In fact, Myanmar has been in a state of religious civil war since 1948. The population of Myanmar is 55 million people, 90% of whom are adherents of Buddhism, and the Rohingya themselves number about 800 thousand people there. This is a long-standing conflict with roots in Burma's colonial history. When Burma was a British colony, the British authorities recruited the Rohingya as free labor. After the occupation of Burma by Japan during World War II, the Buddhists sided with the invader, while the Rohingya remained to serve the British - thus, they found themselves on different barricades.
Since then, outbreaks and armed conflicts have occurred frequently in Myanmar.. Mutual disrespect for other people's religion, historical hostility - all this resulted in militant raids on the one hand, and purges from the authorities on the other. Rohingya militants are often accused of raiding Buddhist shrines and temples and targeting indigenous Buddhist populations, particularly police stations. The authorities of present-day Myanmar answer them in the same way, only from the heights of power and the army.
The Rohingya in Myanmar have fallen into disrepute and become outcasts.– as a result, they cannot claim official citizenship of this state, which makes life where they were not welcomed intolerable. However, a small part (compared to other religions) - 800 thousand Rohingya Muslims glorified the 55 million Buddhist state on the Indochina Peninsula as perpetrators of genocide against the Rohingya people...
In Russia, the Muslim community is showing increased interest in the persecution of fellow believers. The day before, the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, spoke harshly about this, and now the Russian Foreign Ministry is calling on the Myanmar authorities to stop military operations as soon as possible. Despite condemnation of the war, a rally in support of the Rohingya was refused in Moscow. According to Vedomosti, the Moscow mayor's office refused to hold the rally, without agreeing on the purpose of the meeting with the organizer, Arslau Khasavov.
Earlier, participants in an unauthorized rally in Moscow signed a petition addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a call to influence the course of the conflict. The signatures will be provided to the Myanmar Embassy in the capital.
Genocide of Muslims in Myanmar in the media – where is the truth and where is the “fake”?
The oppression of the Rohingya as portrayed in the media is misinformation. Adviser and Foreign Minister of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi spoke about this, saying that a large number of falsified photographs were provided to the world. In particular, fake photos and videos were provided to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Suu Kyi said the photos were taken outside Myanmar and were aimed at spreading religious hatred.
Recall that the conflict in Rakhine escalated on August 25, 2017 after attacks by Rohingya militants on police stations in Myanmar. About 400 separatists died then. As Aung San Suu Kyi put it on this matter, it should "work with friends around the world to prevent terrorism from taking root in Myanmar" .
In turn, Vedomosti cites as an example a UN report from 2017, which talks about violence and oppression of the Rohingya people. The document states that government troops carried out brutal massacres of entire villages, raping women and killing children. Also, as the newspaper reports, UN representatives accused the Myanmar authorities of real genocide, calling it a crime against humanity.
By the way, not everyone in Myanmar itself is radical. Myanmar citizens staged protests in support of the oppressed people in the city of Yangon. Protesters lit candles and released balloons into the sky.
