Special Correspondent :
Hundreds of Rohingya are fleeing Myanmar for Bangladesh amid escalating violence in the country’s western Rakhine state.
Myanmar security forces have launched a fresh crackdown on Rohingyas, a Muslim minority living in Buddhist Myanmar, forcing them cross into Bangladesh to escape violence.
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Friday pushed back nearly 150 Rohingyas who were trying to infiltrate into Bangladesh through the Naf river at Teknaf upazila in Cox’s Bazaar.
“They have tried to cross into Bangladesh following news of army operation in Myanmar’s Rakhine state,” said Major Saiful Islam Jamaddar, Deputy Commander of Teknaf BGB battalion-2.
At least 3,500 Rohingyas have arrived in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazaar since Myanmar authorities deployed troops into the troubled Rakhine state, according to Rohingya community leaders living in the camps.
Those, who arrived in refugee camps, described tales of mass beatings, indiscriminate killings, arbitrary arrests and barbarism by Myanmar security forces.
Myanmar authorities announced a military build-up in Rakhine earlier this month to ramp up
counterinsurgency efforts there.
Meanwhile, deadly clashes have erupted in Rakhine state on early hours of Friday after rebel group launched attack on police check posts and an army base.
At least 59 Rohingyas and 12 members of Myanmar’s security forces were killed in Rakhine state after a rebel group launched pre-dawn raids on police posts and tried to break into an army base.
The office of Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, announced the death toll in a statement on Friday, claiming the Rohingya killed were fighters.
The statement said that an estimated 150 fighters staged coordinated attacks at around 1am in the northern Maungdaw township.
Friday’s fighting exploded around Rathedaung township, where there has been a heavy build up of Myanmar troops in recent weeks, with reports filtering out of killings by shadowy groups, army-blockaded villages and a renewed exodus of refugees heading towards neighbouring Bangladesh.
Some 20 police posts came under attack in the early hours of Friday by an estimated 150 insurgents, some carrying guns and using homemade explosives, Myanmar’s military said.
“The military and police members are fighting back together against extremist Bengali terrorists,” Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing said in a statement on Facebook, using the state’s description for Rohingya militants, according to AFP.
The clashes came hours after a panel led by former UN chief Kofi Annan urged Myanmar to lift restrictions on movement and citizenship for Rohingya.
The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) claimed responsibility for the attacks in a Twitter post, but did not mention casualty figures or how many fighters were involved.
ARSA, accusing the Myanmar forces of killings and rape, said on Friday it was “taking defensive actions” in more than 25 different locations.
The township of Rathetaung in northern Rakhine has been under “a blockade for more than two weeks which is starving the Rohingya people to death”, it said.
“As they prepare to do the same in Maungdaw … we had to eventually step up in order to drive the Burmese colonising forces away.”
The group warned of more attacks to come.
Suu Kyi’s office said “extremist Bengali insurgents attacked a police station in Maungdaw region in northern Rakhine state with a handmade bomb explosive and held coordinated attacks on several police posts”.
Used the term “Bengali” is a derogatory way to describe the Rohingya, implying they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
The fighters had seized weapons from police, Suu Kyi’s office said.
The UN has expressed concern over Friday’s violence, urging “all parties to refrain from violence, protect civilians and restore order”.
The clashes mark an escalation in a conflict simmering in Rakhine since last October, when similar events prompted a massive military operation that caused more than 80,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.
After a period of easing violence, tensions rose again in recent weeks with the military moving hundreds of troops into remote villages to flush out fighters amid a spate of killings of Buddhists.
The Rohingyas are denied citizenship in Myanmar and are classified as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, despite claiming roots in the region that go back centuries.
There are approximately 1.1 million Rohingyas in Myanmar.
The mistreatment of the Rohingya, often described as the world’s most persecuted minority, has emerged as Myanmar’s most contentious human rights issue as it makes a transition from decades of military rule.
The UN believes Myanmar security forces may have committed crimes against humanity against the Rohingya. The military rejects the allegations.
Annan’s Rakhine commission said Suu Kyi’s government should respond to the crisis in a “calibrated” way without excessive force.
It warned of radicalisation on both sides if problems were not addressed quickly, advising Myanmar to address “legitimate concerns” of the Rohingya.
The Commission was formed last year at Suu Kyi’s request, and her government has previously vowed to abide by its findings.
Journalists and observers are denied access to northern Rakhine, and the government has refused entry to a UN mission seeking to investigate human rights abuses there.
Hundreds of Rohingya are fleeing Myanmar for Bangladesh amid escalating violence in the country’s western Rakhine state.
Myanmar security forces have launched a fresh crackdown on Rohingyas, a Muslim minority living in Buddhist Myanmar, forcing them cross into Bangladesh to escape violence.
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Friday pushed back nearly 150 Rohingyas who were trying to infiltrate into Bangladesh through the Naf river at Teknaf upazila in Cox’s Bazaar.
“They have tried to cross into Bangladesh following news of army operation in Myanmar’s Rakhine state,” said Major Saiful Islam Jamaddar, Deputy Commander of Teknaf BGB battalion-2.
At least 3,500 Rohingyas have arrived in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazaar since Myanmar authorities deployed troops into the troubled Rakhine state, according to Rohingya community leaders living in the camps.
Those, who arrived in refugee camps, described tales of mass beatings, indiscriminate killings, arbitrary arrests and barbarism by Myanmar security forces.
Myanmar authorities announced a military build-up in Rakhine earlier this month to ramp up
counterinsurgency efforts there.
Meanwhile, deadly clashes have erupted in Rakhine state on early hours of Friday after rebel group launched attack on police check posts and an army base.
At least 59 Rohingyas and 12 members of Myanmar’s security forces were killed in Rakhine state after a rebel group launched pre-dawn raids on police posts and tried to break into an army base.
The office of Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, announced the death toll in a statement on Friday, claiming the Rohingya killed were fighters.
The statement said that an estimated 150 fighters staged coordinated attacks at around 1am in the northern Maungdaw township.
Friday’s fighting exploded around Rathedaung township, where there has been a heavy build up of Myanmar troops in recent weeks, with reports filtering out of killings by shadowy groups, army-blockaded villages and a renewed exodus of refugees heading towards neighbouring Bangladesh.
Some 20 police posts came under attack in the early hours of Friday by an estimated 150 insurgents, some carrying guns and using homemade explosives, Myanmar’s military said.
“The military and police members are fighting back together against extremist Bengali terrorists,” Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing said in a statement on Facebook, using the state’s description for Rohingya militants, according to AFP.
The clashes came hours after a panel led by former UN chief Kofi Annan urged Myanmar to lift restrictions on movement and citizenship for Rohingya.
The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) claimed responsibility for the attacks in a Twitter post, but did not mention casualty figures or how many fighters were involved.
ARSA, accusing the Myanmar forces of killings and rape, said on Friday it was “taking defensive actions” in more than 25 different locations.
The township of Rathetaung in northern Rakhine has been under “a blockade for more than two weeks which is starving the Rohingya people to death”, it said.
“As they prepare to do the same in Maungdaw … we had to eventually step up in order to drive the Burmese colonising forces away.”
The group warned of more attacks to come.
Suu Kyi’s office said “extremist Bengali insurgents attacked a police station in Maungdaw region in northern Rakhine state with a handmade bomb explosive and held coordinated attacks on several police posts”.
Used the term “Bengali” is a derogatory way to describe the Rohingya, implying they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
The fighters had seized weapons from police, Suu Kyi’s office said.
The UN has expressed concern over Friday’s violence, urging “all parties to refrain from violence, protect civilians and restore order”.
The clashes mark an escalation in a conflict simmering in Rakhine since last October, when similar events prompted a massive military operation that caused more than 80,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.
After a period of easing violence, tensions rose again in recent weeks with the military moving hundreds of troops into remote villages to flush out fighters amid a spate of killings of Buddhists.
The Rohingyas are denied citizenship in Myanmar and are classified as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, despite claiming roots in the region that go back centuries.
There are approximately 1.1 million Rohingyas in Myanmar.
The mistreatment of the Rohingya, often described as the world’s most persecuted minority, has emerged as Myanmar’s most contentious human rights issue as it makes a transition from decades of military rule.
The UN believes Myanmar security forces may have committed crimes against humanity against the Rohingya. The military rejects the allegations.
Annan’s Rakhine commission said Suu Kyi’s government should respond to the crisis in a “calibrated” way without excessive force.
It warned of radicalisation on both sides if problems were not addressed quickly, advising Myanmar to address “legitimate concerns” of the Rohingya.
The Commission was formed last year at Suu Kyi’s request, and her government has previously vowed to abide by its findings.
Journalists and observers are denied access to northern Rakhine, and the government has refused entry to a UN mission seeking to investigate human rights abuses there.
