Myanmar Rohingya Face "Textbook Example of Ethnic Cleansing"

http://www.ipsnews.net/2017/09/myanmar-rohingyaface-textbook-example-ethnic-cleansing/
Date Written:  2017-09-13
Publisher:  IPS - Inter Press Service
Year Published:  2017
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX21407

As hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims flee violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State, thousands that remain in the country face mass atrocities at a scale never seen before.

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Villages on Fire

Though Myanmar has repeatedly denied abuses since it launched its counterinsurgency operation against "extremist terrorists", many say that the Rohingya community have been systematically targeted as security forces raid, attack, and burn villages.

Momena, 32, told Human Rights Watch that she fled after seeing security forces enter her village. Returning after the soldiers had left, she saw up to 50 villagers dead including some children and elderly with knife or bullet wounds.

"My father was among the dead; his neck had been cut open. I was unable to do last rites for my father--I just fled," Momena said.

Yasin Ali, 25, said that security forces similarly attacked his village, shooting indiscriminately and forcing residents to flee. He told the organization that a helicopter which circled the village dropped an object after which houses caught fire.

Using satellite imagery, Human Rights Watch has identified 21 separate sites spanning 100 kilometers across northern Rakhine where fires have taken place.