TIME Burma Is Pursuing ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ of Rohingya Muslims, U.N. Official Says Feliz Solomon @felizysolo Nov. 24, 2016 Thousands of stateless Rohingya Muslims are trying to reach Bangladesh amid reports of abuse by the Burmese army Burmese authorities are carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya Muslim minority in the country’s western Arakan state, a senior U.N. official said, as the military continues to sweep the area for what it has labeled Islamic militants. The BBC reports that John McKissick, a representative of the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, said Burmese troops have been “killing men, shooting them, slaughtering children, raping women, burning and looting houses, forcing these people to cross the river” into neighboring Bangladesh. Thousands of Rohingya have already sought refuge in Bangladesh, the BBC cited the country’s Foreign Ministry as saying. Thousands more are reportedly turning up at the border hoping to escape. Bangladesh does not view the Rohingya as refugees, and its official policy is to not allow them in. The Rohingya are denied citizenship in Burma, officially called Myanmar, and are viewed by many as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, which ADVERTISING SHARE 05/12/2016 Burma Is Pursuing ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ of Rohingya Muslims, U.N. Official Says | TIME http://time.com/4582157/burmamyanmarrohingyabangladesharakanethniccleansingsuukyi/?xid=fbshare 2/3 also does not accept them. The group, numbering about 1.1 million people, is viewed as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities. Tens of thousands have poured across the border for decades to seek refuge in one of several refugee camps near Cox’s Bazaar. Read more: The Rohingya, Burma’s Forgotten Muslims by James Nachtwey “Now it’s very difficult for the Bangladeshi government to say the border is open because this would further encourage the government of Myanmar to continue the atrocities and push them out until they have achieved their ultimate goal of ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority in Myanmar,” McKissick told the BBC. According to Amnesty International, the Bangladeshi government has begun forcibly repatriating the asylum seekers by the thousands, in defiance of international law. UNHCR and Amnesty have accused the Burmese government of “collective punishment,” as the Burmese military carries out counterterrorism operations in the […]
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