Urgent Call for International Action to Prevent Potential Rohingya Bloodbath in Myanmar
A UN expert has issued a dire warning that thousands of innocent lives will be lost unless the international community responds swiftly to the ominous signs of another potential Rohingya massacre unfolding in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, reliefweb reported yesterday.
Thousands of innocent lives will be lost if the international community fails to respond to ominous signs of another Rohingya bloodbath in Rakhine State, a UN expert announced yesterday.
“Once again, the world seems to be failing a desperate people in their hour of peril as a hate-driven unnatural disaster unfolds in real time in Myanmar’s Rakhine State,” said Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar.
Andrews reported that despite an internet shutdown in northern Rakhine, alarming and credible accounts are emerging of killings, enforced disappearances, and widespread arson. Satellite imagery reveals the burning of large parts of Buthidaung town, with tens of thousands of Rohingya being forcibly displaced.
“Information that has already emerged more than warrants an immediate emergency response by the international community,” Andrews stated, calling on all armed groups, including the Myanmar military, the Arakan Army, and Rohingya factions, to adhere to international humanitarian law and take steps to protect innocent civilian lives.
The expert urged the establishment of mechanisms to provide emergency aid and appealed to the Bangladeshi government to reverse its closed border policy, as large groups of Rohingya are being forcibly displaced towards the border. However, he warned that Bangladesh lacks the capacity to address this crisis without substantial international support.
“The choice of these States to either step up or step away from this horror could literally be a matter of life and death for countless Rohingya,” Andrews said.
The desperate situation in Myanmar has for years forced thousands of Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighbouring countries, including Indonesia.
The recent arrival of approximately 50 Rohingya refugees, mainly women and children, in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province marks the latest wave of this persecuted minority seeking sanctuary.
According to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), over 2,300 Rohingya arrived in Indonesia last year, more than the combined total from the previous four years.
