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Rohingya women raped, homes destroyed as Myanmar cracks down on militants
Sydney Morning Herald - October 29, 2016
The United States and United Nations have voiced their concern and human rights groups are demanding a prompt impartial investigation into the escalating violence almost one year after the party of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi won power in the country also known as Burma.
The Myanmar Times has cited credible reports that dozens of Muslim women have been raped by security forces, including 30 in a single village. Some were as young as 16.
Reuters quotes eight Rohingya women, all from U Shey Kya village, describing in detail how soldiers raided their homes, looted property and raped them at gun point last week.
Not all the claims could be independently verified as authorities restrict access to journalists, aid workers and independent observers.
Aid workers have reported that an estimated 10,000 Rohingya have been displaced from their homes and food and other supplies are running low for tens of thousands of others.
Amnesty International said it had received numerous reports of extra-judicial executions, arbitrary arrests and detentions, destruction of homes and crimes involving sexual violence and other violations.
Myanmar authorities are facing mounting pressure to lift a military lockdown across the restive state that advocacy groups say has trapped thousands of Muslims and prevented aid workers from helping them.
"The longer this situation continues, the more vulnerable people will get, as food supplies dwindle and life-threatening health problems are left untreated," said Marta Kaszubska, the coordinator of the INGO Forum Myanmar.
Soldiers have pored into Rakhine since October 9 after an insurgent group of Rohingya allegedly launched coordinated attacks on several border guard posts, killing nine police officers, five soldiers and stealing a cache of weapons. Eight attackers were also killed.
The government blamed the attacks on an armed group comprising about 400 fighters calling themselves al-Yakin Mujahidin, a group previously unknown. In videos posted online by the group, heavily armed men called for jihad.
A spokesman for the Rakhine government has denied security forces have committed any human rights violations. "We haven't done anything lawless," said a spokesman for Myanmar's president Htin Kyaw, in response to a complaint from the United Nations.
Ms Suu Kyi, Myanmar's de-facto leader, has called for investigations into the violence but cautioned against making accusations without evidence.
In August, she appointed former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan to look into the plight of more than one million Rohingya, who have been denied basic rights and are considered stateless despite living in Myanmar for generations.
Ms Suu Kyi, 71, last week brushed aside criticism she has failed to speak out on behalf of the Rohingya in her Buddhist-majority nation.
"Things take time. The situation in Rakhine is a legacy of many, many decades of problems," she said. "We're not going to be able to resolve it overnight. It goes back to even the last century."
Analysts say the military's violent reaction to the border post attacks shows that Myanmar's generals retain a firm grip on power despite the NLD's landslide victory at elections in November last year.
The army controls the key ministries of defence, home affairs and border affairs and a quarter of seats in parliament are reserved for military appointees.
After the October 9 attacks, Home Affairs Minister Kyaw Swe, a lieutenant-general, accused Rohingya Muslims of "invading" the country.
Ms Suu Kyi, who holds the title "state counsellor", has not challenged the military on security issues while the generals have shown no signs of actively undermining her position.
But the Rahkine violence is the biggest crisis to face her National League for Democracy government that officially took office in March.
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