Calls for the Rohingya population to “not be the target” of violence again
April 19 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has warned this Friday of the “serious threat” posed to the civilian population by the growing violence by the Burma Army and insurgent groups in the state of Rakhine, in the west of the country.
In a statement, Turk regretted the intensification of fighting and warned of the danger of “repeating the atrocities of the past.” Thus, he stated that tensions are “stoking between the Rohingya and ethnic Rajine communities.”
Since the informal ceasefire between both sides broke down last November, 15 of Rakhine's 17 municipalities have been affected by fighting, where hundreds of people have been killed or injured, as stated in the text. . This has raised the number of displaced people to more than 300,000.
“Rakhine State has once again become a multi-actor battlefield, and civilians are paying a high price, with the Rohingya in particular danger,” he said, before stating that what is “particularly Worryingly, while in 2017 the Rohingya were targeted by a single group, they are now caught between two armed factions.”
In this sense, he has asked that the Rohingya “not be targets” of violence again and recalled that the military has been rapidly losing ground against the Arakan Army (AA) throughout the north and center of the state, which has caused an “intensification of fighting in the municipalities of Buthidaung and Maungdaw, before the expected battle for Sittwe”, capital of Rakhine state.
“In the face of defeat, the military has begun to recruit, bribe and coerce the Rohingya to join its ranks. It is inconceivable that they would target them in this way, taking into account the terrible events of six years ago and the extreme discrimination that the Rohingya continue to face, including the denial of their citizenship,” Turk said.
Some reports suggest that the military forces Rohingya recruits to burn ethnic Rahingya homes, buildings or villages, while the latter have responded by burning Rohingya villages.
“The alarms are ringing, and we must not allow the past to be repeated,” said Turk, who noted that “countries with influence over the Burma Army and the armed groups involved must act now to protect all civilians from the Rakhine state and avoid another episode of horrendous persecution of the Rohingya.
