Nearly 90,000 Rohingya escape Myanmar violence as humanitarian crisis looms

[snoop1130]

Nearly 90,000 Rohingya escape Myanmar violence as humanitarian crisis looms

By Simon Lewis and Wa Lone

 

 

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh/YANGON (Reuters) - Nearly 90,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since violence erupted in Myanmar in August, pressuring scarce resources of aid agencies and communities already helping hundreds of thousands of refugees from previous spasms of violence in Myanmar.

 

The bloodshed in Myanmar's northwestern Rakhine state was triggered by an attack on Aug. 25 on dozens of police posts and an army base by Rohingya insurgents. The ensuing clashes and a military counter-offensive have killed at least 400 people.

 

Myanmar officials blamed Rohingya militants for the burning of homes and civilian deaths but rights monitors and Rohingya fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh say the Myanmar army is trying to force Rohingya out with a campaign of arson and killings.

 

The treatment of Buddhist-majority Myanmar's roughly 1.1 million Muslim Rohingya is the biggest challenge facing leader Aung San Suu Kyi, accused by Western critics of not speaking out for the minority that has long complained of persecution.

 

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has come under increasing diplomatic pressure from countries with large Muslim populations such as Bangladesh, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan to protect Rohingya civilians.

 

Myanmar says its security forces are fighting a legitimate campaign against "terrorists" responsible for a string of attacks on police posts and the army since last October.

 

The number of those crossing the border into Bangladesh - 87,000 - surpassed the number who escaped Myanmar after a series of much smaller insurgent attacks in October that set off a military operation beset by accusations of serious human rights abuses.

 

The newest estimate, based on calculations by U.N. workers in the Bangladeshi border district of Cox's Bazar, takes to nearly 150,000 the total number of Rohingya who have sought refuge in Bangladesh since October.

 

"We are trying to build houses here, but there isn't enough space," said Mohammed Hussein, 25, who was still looking for a place to stay after fleeing Myanmar four days ago.

 

"No non-government organisations came here. We have no food. Some women gave birth on the roadside. Sick children have no treatment."

 

An unofficial camp for Rohingya refugees that sprang up after the October attacks is being dramatically expanded.

 

Hundreds of Rohingya milled beside the road while others slung tarpaulins over bamboo frames to make shelters against the monsoon rain.

 

Among new arrivals, about 16,000 are school-age children and more than 5,000 are under the age of five who need vaccine coverage, aid workers said over the weekend.

 

The number of unaccompanied children was high and many were "traumatized and hungry", they said.

 

Md Ali Hossen, deputy commissioner for the Cox's Bazar district, told Reuters that some new arrivals were setting up new camps and the government was not stopping them or taking the camps down on humanitarian grounds.

 

Bangladesh officials have said at least 53 bodies have either washed up on Bangladeshi shores or have been found in the Naf River, which separates the two countries, many with bullet or knife wounds.

 

INTERNATIONAL ANGER

 

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who said on Friday that violence against Myanmar's Muslims amounted to genocide, last week called Bangladesh's President Abdul Hamid to offer help in sheltering the Rohingya, Dhaka said.

 

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi will meet Suu Kyi and other officials in Myanmar on Monday, to urge a halt to the violence after a petrol bomb was thrown at the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta on Sunday.

 

There were more anti-Myanmar protests in Jakarta on Monday. Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population.

 

"We will discuss in detail Indonesia's proposal on how Indonesia can give humanitarian aid to Rakhine state," Retno said in a video statement from Yangon.

 

She is also scheduled to travel to Bangladesh to urge authorities there to protect Rohingya refugees.

 

Pakistan, which has a large number of Rohingya living there, on Sunday urged "authorities in Myanmar to investigate reports of massacre, hold those involved accountable and take necessary measures to protect the rights of Rohingya Muslims".

 

In addition to tens of thousands of Rohingya, more than 11,700 "ethnic residents" had been evacuated from northern Rakhine state, the Myanmar government has said, referring to non-Muslims.

 

Myanmar state media on Monday carried stories showing authorities providing food and medical care to the evacuees.

 

The army said on Sunday Rohingya insurgents had set fire to monasteries, images of Buddha as well as schools and houses in the north of Rakhine state. It posted images of destroyed Buddha statues.

 

A Myanmar military source said security forces still had difficulty penetrating the remote northern part of Maungdaw region - close to the Bangladeshi border.

 

He said that the area between the state capital of Sittwe and the major regional town of Maungdaw, where the bulk of Aug. 25 attacks took place, was under military control.

 

(Reporting by Simon Lewis and Nurul Islam in COX'S BAZAR, Shoon Naing and Wa Lone in YANGON; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Robert Birsel)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-9-4

[delphioracle]

Strange how the Muslims scream when they suffer attacks but are silent when their own kind engage in murderous attacks.

 

Sorry no sympathy from me for the Muslims.let their own kind care for them

 

Quote

 

The army said on Sunday Rohingya insurgents had set fire to monasteries, images of Buddha as well as schools and houses in the north of Rakhine state. It posted images of destroyed Buddha statues.

 

 

[Golgota]

1 hour ago, delphioracle said:

Strange how the Muslims scream when they suffer attacks but are silent when their own kind engage in murderous attacks.

 

Sorry no sympathy from me for the Muslims.let their own kind care for them

 

 

What you said sir, is utterly crap! So either you decide to  stop watching  Faux news and read the worldwide news from middle east countries or just please shut up with your racist rant..., especially when you previously wrote "I've been here as a member for a number of years but the blatant bigotry and racism of many of the posters here is unbelievable,"..

This is quite ironic or a double standard to say the least

 

On nother note : The aids for the civilians have been blocked by the Burma army, putting families in really dangerous situation..so much for a woman who received the Nobel Prize, she does not worth more than the previous militry regime it seems!

[Goanna]

The rest of the world need to take note. Pandering to islam only leads to more attacks. Myanmar and Israel are taking the lead on how to deal with terrorists. Violence should not be tolerated, because it just goes on and on. Stamp it out is the only road to peace, and maybe another peace prize. 

[delphioracle]

Ever noticed the news around the world Golgota concerning attacks by Muslim extremist on innocents ?

 

You know Manchester, Spain etc to name just a couple of recent events   they were reported widely and I have never had either the misfortune or desire to watch Faux news as you call it.

 

We have our own home grown or rather inherited problems here with Muslim extremists,

Must ask in view of your blindness to what is happening  concerning Muslim extremists  are you a Muslim extremist?  

[PremiumLane]

20 minutes ago, delphioracle said:

Ever noticed the news around the world Golgota concerning attacks by Muslim extremist on innocents ?

 

You know Manchester, Spain etc to name just a couple of recent events   they were reported widely and I have never had either the misfortune or desire to watch Faux news as you call it.

 

We have our own home grown or rather inherited problems here with Muslim extremists,

Must ask in view of your blindness to what is happening  concerning Muslim extremists  are you a Muslim extremist?  

What is see is Muslim extremists and then extremists like you too, two sides of the same crappy coin. 

 

They want to kill people because of religion and you cheer the killing of people because they are Muslim... you have no moral compass

[Goanna]

39 minutes ago, PremiumLane said:

What is see is Muslim extremists and then extremists like you too, two sides of the same crappy coin. 

 

They want to kill people because of religion and you cheer the killing of people because they are Muslim... you have no moral compass

Soo...let the extremists kill people, and say nothing lest you be called an extremist? Oh please...the logic escapes me. Have you not had any sort of an education?

[Golgota]

3 hours ago, delphioracle said:

Ever noticed the news around the world Golgota concerning attacks by Muslim extremist on innocents ?

 

You know Manchester, Spain etc to name just a couple of recent events   they were reported widely and I have never had either the misfortune or desire to watch Faux news as you call it.

 

We have our own home grown or rather inherited problems here with Muslim extremists,

Must ask in view of your blindness to what is happening  concerning Muslim extremists  are you a Muslim extremist?  

Go learn the History of your own country in the south (not the one taught in thai class) before taking this path, it could hurt you mord than tou think to learn the truth

[Golgota]

2 hours ago, Goanna said:

Soo...let the extremists kill people, and say nothing lest you be called an extremist? Oh please...the logic escapes me. Have you not had any sort of an education?

Do you?

[Saladin]

What a disappointing  fizzog Aung San Suu Kyi has proved to be after all those years. It seems that nothing has changed in Burma.

[PremiumLane]

22 hours ago, Goanna said:

Soo...let the extremists kill people, and say nothing lest you be called an extremist? Oh please...the logic escapes me. Have you not had any sort of an education?

You clearly don't, cos that is not what I was saying, was it? I am actually speaking against both extremists, those that kill, force people from their homes and commit other crimes, along with those that sit on the sidelines and cheer. 

 

Both to me are disgusting and deserve equal disdain. For one I fully support the Kurdish YPG who are actively fighting ISIS in their homelands and Syria. I know where my moral compass is set.  

[Stargeezr]

Muslims just do not like the rest of the world, criticizing any thing they do

even when they do it against other Muslims. Us Christians will always be on the

wrong side of the fence. Nothing will change in our life time. It is sad, really

Geezer