[Myanmar] Survivors Slam Burmese Govt For Arakan Strife

[News_Editor]

A child carries water through the debris of burned homes in Pauktaw Township, Arakan State. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

SITTWE, Arakan State—Survivors of sectarian clashes in western Burma lashed out at the government for failing to prevent violence between Muslims and Buddhists that has displaced more than 28,000 people over the last week.

The crisis, which erupted in June, has raised international concern and posed one of the biggest challenges yet to reformist Burmese President Thein Sein, who inherited power from a xenophobic military junta last year.

The latest violence between ethnic Arakanese Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims began on Oct. 21 and has left at least 84 people dead and 129 injured, according to government figures. Human rights groups believe the true toll could be far higher.

“The authorities are not solving the problem and soldiers are not defending us,†said Kyaw Myint, a Muslim who took refuge at Thechaung Camp outside the state capital Sittwe. He fled his home in nearby Pauktaw when it was torched on Wednesday.

“I feel as though I am in hell,†he said. “We have no one to take care of us, no place to go, and now no job to earn a living.â€

A 37-year-old Arakanese trader named Maung Than Naing, reached by phone in the village of Kyauktaw, also expressed anger over the government’s handling of the violence.

“We are helpless because the government is not dealing with the root of the problem,†he said. “We no longer want to live with the Muslims.â€

Maung Than Naing, who also lost his home in an arson attack, blamed the Rohingya for breaking the calm.

“These poor Muslim people who live hand to mouth burned their own homes so that they enjoy the UN aid where they are given shelter and free food,†he said.

A tense calm has held across the region since Saturday, Arakan State spokesman Myo Thant said. More police and soldiers have been deployed to increase security, but he declined to give details.

The priority now is to ensure those who lost homes have adequate shelter and food, Myo Thant said.

Although many Rohingya have lived in Burma for generations, they are widely denigrated as intruders who came from neighboring Bangladesh to steal scarce land.

The Rohingya also face official discrimination, a policy encouraged by Burma’s previous military regimes to enlist popular support among other groups. A 1982 law formally excluded them as one of the country’s 135 ethnicities, meaning most are denied basic civil rights and are deprived of citizenship.

Human rights groups say racism also plays a role—many Rohingya, who speak a Bengali dialect and resemble Muslim Bangladeshis, have darker skin and are heavily discriminated against.

Bangladesh, though, also denies them citizenship. The UN estimates their population in Burma at 800,000.

Tensions have simmered in western Burma since clashes first broke out in June after a Arakanese woman was allegedly raped and murdered by three Muslim men. The June violence displaced 75,000 people—also mostly Muslims.

UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Burma Ashok Nigam said on Monday that the number of displaced was likely to rise because some people who fled affected areas along the coast by boat last week have yet to be counted.

An estimated 27,300 of the 28,000 newly displaced are Muslims, Nigam said, adding that the UN figure was based on statistics from local authorities.

The new figures bring the total number of displaced in Arakan State since June to at least 103,000.

Source: Irrawaddy.org