Bodies wash up on Bangladesh shore as Rohingya flee Myanmar

[webfact]

Bodies wash up on Bangladesh shore as Rohingya flee Myanmar

By Nurul Islam

 

A new Rohingya refugee woman walks with her belongings towards the Kutupalang makeshift Refugee Camp, in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, August 30, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain

 

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Bangladeshi border guards have recovered two dozen bodies from the country's shore in the last two days, as tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims make desperate attempts to flee the worst violence involving the Myanmar minority in at least five years.

 

At the United Nations, the U.S. ambassador to the world body, Nikki Haley, urged Myanmar's security forces to avoid attacking innocent civilians.

 

Haley condemned recent attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army but added "as Burmese security forces act to prevent further violence, they have a responsibility to adhere to international humanitarian law, which includes refraining from attacking innocent civilians and humanitarian workers."

 

She also urged security forces to ensure aid reaches those in need and to ensure the rights of all communities.

Around 27,400 Rohingya Muslims have crossed into Bangladesh from Myanmar since Friday, three U.N. sources said, after Rohingya insurgents wielding sticks, knives and crude bombs attacked police posts and an army base in Rakhine state, leading to clashes that killed at least 117 people.

 

Myanmar said its security forces were carrying out clearance operations in northern Rakhine to defend against "extremist terrorists". Monitors said fleeing Rohingya reported that the army and ethnic Rakhine Buddhist vigilantes have unleashed a+ campaign of arson aimed at driving out the Muslim population.

 

Reuters reporters in Bangladesh on Thursday saw a huge fire on the Myanmar side of the Naf River.

 

Many villages were also on fire near the town of Maungdaw in Rakhine, where another Reuters reporter saw charred debris and smoke billowing from the forest.

 

The U.N. sources in Bangladesh said around 20,000 Rohingya were stranded in no man's land between the two countries. One predicted the figure could jump to 30,000 later on Thursday.

 

Yanghee Lee, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said the humanitarian situation was deteriorating rapidly.

 

"Many thousands of people are increasingly at risk of grave violations of their human rights," she said in a statement. "The worsening cycle of violence ... must be broken urgently."

 

Myanmar has evacuated thousands of Buddhists from Rakhine since the start of the fighting that has mainly killed Rohingya insurgents but also security force personnel, according to the Myanmar government.

 

The treatment of about 1.1 million Rohingya in Myanmar is the biggest challenge facing Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, accused by Western critics of not speaking out for a minority that has long complained of persecution.

 

On Thursday, the bodies of 11 Rohingya children and nine women washed up on the Bangladesh side of the Naf after their boat overturned, said Ariful Islam, a Bangladesh border guard commander.

 

The bodies of two Rohingya women and two children were recovered on Wednesday after their boat was fired on by Myanmar's Border Guard Police, Islam said. A Rohingya leader in Bangladesh cited survivors saying both boats were overcrowded.

 

In the Bangladeshi border district of Cox's Bazar, makeshift camps for the displaced set up since similar violence last October were being expanded.

 

One arrival, Mohammed Rashid, 45, wore a surgical dressing under his eye, saying bullet splinters injured him after the Myanmar army opened fire on a group of Rohingya.

 

He said about 100 people made their way to the border together, and he saw explosions and people dying.

"We hid in the forest for two days and then we were stopped at the border, but we got through. We heard that the houses in our village have burned down," Rashid told Reuters.

   

"BURNING, BURNING"

 

Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project, a Rohingya monitoring group, said it appeared Myanmar security forces were trying to drive out much of the Rohingya population. She said ethnic Rakhine vigilantes were "participating in the burning of villages".

 

"What we're hearing is burning, burning, burning," she said. "And it seems to be spreading from south to north."

Myanmar has said it has the right to defend itself from attack, adding that security personnel were told to protect innocent civilians.

 

The Myanmar army has said it is battling insurgents who continued to ambush government forces. Monitors said there have been few, if any, insurgent attacks reported since Friday's initial offensive.

 

The violence marks a dramatic escalation of a conflict that has simmered since October, when a similar but much smaller series of Rohingya attacks on security posts prompted a brutal military response dogged by allegations of rights abuses.

 

The Rohingya are denied citizenship in Myanmar and regarded as illegal immigrants, despite claiming roots that date back centuries. Bangladesh is also growing increasingly hostile to Rohingya, more than 400,000 of whom live in the poor South Asian country after fleeing Myanmar since the early 1990s.

 

Bangladesh on Wednesday pushed back 366 Rohingya trying to enter the country though thousands have set up temporary camps along the porous land border, borders guards said.

 

The International Organization for Migration joined U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in appealing to Bangladesh to admit people caught on the border. Bangladesh has insisted it lacks resources to care for them.

 

Aid workers say contingency stocks of materials are low and their biggest problem is extreme overcrowding in makeshift settlements.

 

(Reporting by Nurul Islam, Ruma Paul, Reuters Staff; additional reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations in New York and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Krishna N. Das and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Alex Richardson and Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-09-01

[phantomfiddler]

It has become painfully obvious that muslims do not mix with other more peaceful races, and as such should only be allowed/encouraged to relocate to other nearby muslim countries such as Indonesia. They are perpetually whinging about discrimination, but they are the world,s worst for discriminating against other religions in situations where they have the upper hand, and I for one have no sympathy at all for them. They do not get along with anyone, including themselves, and should not be allowed to bring their violence to peace loving countries such as Burma, something that Aung San Su Chi fully realizes.

[steven100]

4 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

It has become painfully obvious that muslims do not mix with other more peaceful races, and as such should only be allowed/encouraged to relocate to other nearby muslim countries such as Indonesia. They are perpetually whinging about discrimination, but they are the world,s worst for discriminating against other religions in situations where they have the upper hand, and I for one have no sympathy at all for them. They do not get along with anyone, including themselves, and should not be allowed to bring their violence to peace loving countries such as Burma, something that Aung San Su Chi fully realizes.

And the sooner the rest of the world realizes this and admit to it the far better off we will all be.

[simple1]

54 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

It has become painfully obvious that muslims do not mix with other more peaceful races, and as such should only be allowed/encouraged to relocate to other nearby muslim countries such as Indonesia. They are perpetually whinging about discrimination, but they are the world,s worst for discriminating against other religions in situations where they have the upper hand, and I for one have no sympathy at all for them. They do not get along with anyone, including themselves, and should not be allowed to bring their violence to peace loving countries such as Burma, something that Aung San Su Chi fully realizes.

No surprise coming from you and no doubt others will follow.

 

Mind boggling ignorance of the Rohingya's situation in Myanmar, plus of course other minority groups, including Christians, who have been brutally oppressed for decades.  Guess you're well versed in and applaud the tactics of oppression used by the Myanmar government over the decades, including torture and rape and not only of Muslims.

[RuamRudy]

1 hour ago, phantomfiddler said:

It has become painfully obvious that muslims do not mix with other more peaceful races, and as such should only be allowed/encouraged to relocate to other nearby muslim countries such as Indonesia. They are perpetually whinging about discrimination, but they are the world,s worst for discriminating against other religions in situations where they have the upper hand, and I for one have no sympathy at all for them. They do not get along with anyone, including themselves, and should not be allowed to bring their violence to peace loving countries such as Burma, something that Aung San Su Chi fully realizes.

Have you not paid any attention whatsoever to the Rohingya situation or are you so biased that your Pavlovian response to any situation involving Muslims is 'Muslims bad!'?

 

Horrifying footage has emerged of police officers standing by while Burmese Buddhist rioters set fire to a Muslim man.

 

[Krataiboy]

3 hours ago, phantomfiddler said:

It has become painfully obvious that muslims do not mix with other more peaceful races, and as such should only be allowed/encouraged to relocate to other nearby muslim countries such as Indonesia. They are perpetually whinging about discrimination, but they are the world,s worst for discriminating against other religions in situations where they have the upper hand, and I for one have no sympathy at all for them. They do not get along with anyone, including themselves, and should not be allowed to bring their violence to peace loving countries such as Burma, something that Aung San Su Chi fully realizes.

 

Irrespective of your somewhat uncharitable view regarding followers of Islam, I would have thought the most painful "obvious fact" about the present state of Myanmar is how misguided the West was in backing its privileged, Oxford-educated new leader.

 

The oft-quoted words of this phony savior of democracy on the rights of minorities now have a distinctly hollow ring - not least her perspicacious observation that "The true measure of the justice of a system is the amount of protection it guarantees to the weakest". 

 

Well, they do say power corrupts. . . 

Edited September 1, 2017 by Krataiboy

[RuamRudy]

1 minute ago, Krataiboy said:

 

Irrespective of your somewhat uncharitable view regarding followers of Islam, I would have thought the most painful "obvious fact" about the present state of Myanmar is how misguided the West was in backing its privileged, Oxford-educated new leader.

 

The oft-quoted words of this phony savior of democracy on the rights of minorities now have a distinctly hollow ring these days, elite,not least her perspicacious observation that "The true measure of the justice of a system is the amount of protection it guarantees to the weakest". 

 

Well, they do say power corrupts. . . 

 

I don't consider myself particularly naive, but like most people, I was filled with optimism when she took over de facto power. Now I am confounded by her silence and apparent unwillingness to take a decent, humanitarian grip of this situation. The urbane, measured and patient demeanor she displayed while she was persecuted by the Burmese military seems, now, to have been all an act. 

[boomerangutang]

More importantly, they're people - just trying to eke out an existence.  Making babies and finding food & shelter - those are their priorities.  It so happened they were born into a mean-spirited religion, so they're required to pledge allegiance to it.  

 

In the big picture, what's happening in SW Burma is a small picture of what happens when a finite-size planet is over-run by one species.   

[simple1]

23 minutes ago, RuamRudy said:

 

I don't consider myself particularly naive, but like most people, I was filled with optimism when she took over de facto power. Now I am confounded by her silence and apparent unwillingness to take a decent, humanitarian grip of this situation. The urbane, measured and patient demeanor she displayed while she was persecuted by the Burmese military seems, now, to have been all an act. 

Seems to be an accurate analysis of the current situation and Aung San Su Chi.

 

http://harvardpolitics.com/world/understanding-aung-san-suu-kyis-silence-rohingya/

 

 

[iReason]

4 hours ago, phantomfiddler said:

It has become painfully obvious that muslims do not mix with other more peaceful races, and as such should only be allowed/encouraged to relocate to other nearby muslim countries such as Indonesia.

 

Mind boggling ignorance indeed.

"muslims do not mix with other more peaceful races"

 

Muslims are not a "race".

It is an ideology.

There are black muslims, white muslims, arab muslims, south asian muslims, east asian muslims etc...

[RuamRudy]

1 hour ago, simple1 said:

Seems to be an accurate analysis of the current situation and Aung San Su Chi.

 

http://harvardpolitics.com/world/understanding-aung-san-suu-kyis-silence-rohingya/

 

 

Thanks for the link - a very depressing article that offers little in the way of optimism. 

[PeCeDe]

I pity the UN people trying to sort this mess out. Regardless of religion they are Human, and as such deserve the same respect you and I have, to give them any less is to descend to the same level of depravity as ISIS (DAESH).  To all those naysayers I say try putting the shoe on your own foot. Their ancestors arrived in Myanmar hundreds of years ago and they still don't belong and have no State to protect them... at least for us Westerners, even if we overstay for years, we always have somewhere to call home, these people have nowhere to call home and are hated, despised, abused, hunted down and shot, raped, pillaged etc. It's no wonder they are starting to fight back.

[tomacht8]

According to Islamic tradition, Muslim men are allowed to marry Jewish and Christian women as well as Muslim women, because they are regarded as belonging to the 'ahlulkitab', ie the 'people of the book' (with the 'book' are the monotheistic holy scriptures, ie tanach and bible, meaning).

 

However, the Islamic tradition forbids the Muslim women to marry men who are not muslims.

 

The deeper meaning for this unequal treatment is that the children born by the woman accept the religion of the father.

 

One must not be surprised that with such a relgions teach, muslim people can not harmonize with other societies. 

[lungbing]

Notice that all the drowned are children and women.  Their men are armed and fighting the Buddhists while simultaneously playing the usual victim card.

[ilostmypassword]

2 hours ago, lungbing said:

Notice that all the drowned are children and women.  Their men are armed and fighting the Buddhists while simultaneously playing the usual victim card.

You mean they should run away and leave their homes undefended? It's funny, because one of the criticism I often read from Muslim haters is that the refugees coming to Europe should stay in their countries and fight the extremists rather than run away. I guess that only applies when the extremists are Islamists. Buddhist terrorists should be allowed free reign.

[Scott]

I doubt that Su Chi can, even if she wanted to, do much about the situation.   Many years ago, while still under house arrest, I saw an interview with her and the issue of the Rohingya was touched upon.   Her remarks were deflective and luke warm.  

 

Many Burmese do not consider them be Burmese and they are about as welcome as a group of Illegal Mexicans at a Trump rally.  

 

This has been an on-going problem and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future.   Myanmar needs to do more, but I think this is going to a long-drawn out and difficult process.  

[steven100]

19 hours ago, iReason said:

There are black muslims, white muslims, arab muslims, south asian muslims, east asian muslims etc...

yes ...  it's sad really.

[simple1]

6 hours ago, steven100 said:

yes ...  it's sad really.

As innocent civilians are dying as a result of being attacked by armed elements of an extremely oppressive government with institutionalised discrimination, you come up with the above insight into your thinking. I do wonder why an Australian hater of Muslims would relocate to a country with a much higher percentile of Muslims. I believe you live in Pattaya, where often land and business premises are rented out by Muslim families. Local Muslims in your area, some of whom you're probably not even aware of their religion, will be providing services for you. Shame on you.

Edited September 2, 2017 by simple1

[ilostmypassword]

On 9/1/2017 at 8:11 AM, phantomfiddler said:

It has become painfully obvious that muslims do not mix with other more peaceful races, and as such should only be allowed/encouraged to relocate to other nearby muslim countries such as Indonesia. They are perpetually whinging about discrimination, but they are the world,s worst for discriminating against other religions in situations where they have the upper hand, and I for one have no sympathy at all for them. They do not get along with anyone, including themselves, and should not be allowed to bring their violence to peace loving countries such as Burma, something that Aung San Su Chi fully realizes.

Well, you've gone low before, but I believe the depth you've now reached is as low as anyone can go. 

Burma: Rohingya children 'beheaded and burned alive' as refugees continue to flood into Bangladesh to escape violence

Rohingya children have been beheaded and civilians burned alive, according to witness testimony amid claims that Burma's military and paramilitary forces are committing "genocide" or a "pogrom" against the Muslim minority in the country’s western Rakhine state.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/rohingya-burma-myanmar-children-beheaded-burned-alive-refugees-bangladesh-a7926521.html

[ilostmypassword]

On 9/1/2017 at 10:44 PM, Scott said:

I doubt that Su Chi can, even if she wanted to, do much about the situation.   Many years ago, while still under house arrest, I saw an interview with her and the issue of the Rohingya was touched upon.   Her remarks were deflective and luke warm.  

 

Many Burmese do not consider them be Burmese and they are about as welcome as a group of Illegal Mexicans at a Trump rally.  

 

This has been an on-going problem and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future.   Myanmar needs to do more, but I think this is going to a long-drawn out and difficult process.  

The reason she can't do anything is clear: this pogrom is backed and in large part perpetrated by the military which is still the real power in Myanmar.

[craigt3365]

Just changed my plans to visit Cox's Bazaar. Going to Sylhet area instead!

 

Horrible how these people are treated. Religion...

[katana]

This is how Muslim Bangladesh treats the Rohingya Muslim refugees. "Why should we take them, it's not our burden."
- Sheikh Hasina Wazed -Current Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

https://twitter.com/ameerabbas84/status/904991651600490496

 

[simple1]

2 hours ago, katana said:

This is how Muslim Bangladesh treats the Rohingya Muslim refugees. "Why should we take them, it's not our burden."
- Sheikh Hasina Wazed -Current Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

https://twitter.com/ameerabbas84/status/904991651600490496

 

Could be wrong but believe the interview is from some years back. Bangladesh has hosted approx 300k Rohingya refugees for decades, mostly in very poor conditions. Current numbers of Rohingya crossing the border to escape ethnic cleaning operations by Myanmar military / police into Bangladesh is around 70k. Basically the PM is correct, the oppression, refusal of basic human rights and resultant asylum problems are the ownership of the Myanmar government to resolve. 

 

One matter though is yet another confirmation the Muslim political leadership worldwide works in national self interest, not for the adherents of Islam. However, back in the 1970s Saudi Arabia took in approx 300k Rohingya; only very recently were they offered any stability for residency.

 

http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/718891

[craigt3365]

I'm in Bangladesh now. This is a massively poor and corrupt country. But, they are some of the nicest people I've ever met. They are doing the best they can, but it's Myanmar's problem to solve. Horrible how they treat these people.

[katana]

So much for the Muslim Ummah...

[Farma]

The cartoon in yesterdays saudi newspaper arab news.

[PeCeDe]

2 hours ago, Farma said:

The cartoon in yesterdays saudi newspaper arab news.

Can't really say it better than this "Not funny" cartoon. God help them.

[katana]

On 06/09/2017 at 1:35 AM, simple1 said:

Basically the PM is correct, the oppression, refusal of basic human rights and resultant asylum problems are the ownership of the Myanmar government to resolve. 

8 hours ago, simple1 said:

Asylum seekers have been a phenomena for centuries so zero excuse. Poland and Hungary current attitudes are harsh examples of bigotry. Nothing new, especially for the Poles.

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/1000612-eu-refugee-court-ruling-triggers-new-east-west-feuding/?do=findComment&comment=12251357

 

Seems you pick and choose your thoughts on refugee status depending on who's accepting them.
In the former case you say the Rohingya refugees are not Bangladesh's concern and the asylum problems are Burma's to deal with.
In the latter EU case, you call Poland and Hungary bigots for not accepting refugees.

[simple1]

1 hour ago, katana said:

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/1000612-eu-refugee-court-ruling-triggers-new-east-west-feuding/?do=findComment&comment=12251357

 

Seems you pick and choose your thoughts on refugee status depending on who's accepting them. In the former case you say the Rohingya refugees are not Bangladesh's concern and the asylum problems are Burma's to deal with.
In the latter EU case, you call Poland and Hungary bigots for not accepting refugees.

You don't give a damn about refugees, so don't waste my time asking for clarification. 

Edited September 8, 2017 by simple1

[ilostmypassword]

4 hours ago, katana said:

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/1000612-eu-refugee-court-ruling-triggers-new-east-west-feuding/?do=findComment&comment=12251357

 

Seems you pick and choose your thoughts on refugee status depending on who's accepting them.
In the former case you say the Rohingya refugees are not Bangladesh's concern and the asylum problems are Burma's to deal with.
In the latter EU case, you call Poland and Hungary bigots for not accepting refugees.

Burma has a functioning government which is itself actively persecuting its Royhinga minority. So its entirely appropriate to hold that government responsible. And Bangladesh is a very poor nation which has limited resources.

In the Middle East there's civil war raging so it would actually be out of the power of a government to put a stop to the refugee crisis. Naturally these refugees are going to flee to countries that are safe and have sufficient resources. And no sensible person is absolving these governments of all the blame, anyway.