Verbrannte Erde


Human Rights Watch hat heute Vorher-Nachher-Satellitenbilder aus dem Norden von Rakhine (Myanmar) veröffentlicht, aus denen hervorgeht, daß in den letzten 6 Wochen mehr als 1.200 Rohingya-Häuser niedergebrannt wurden. Zehntausende Rohingya sind auf der Flucht vor der Gewalt des Militärs und der staatlich ausgebildeten und bewaffneten Bürgerwehren. Humanitäre Hilfe, Lebensmittellieferungen, Gesundheitsversorgung wurden vom Militär in Nord-Rakhine ausgesetzt, dort wurde der Ausnahmezustand verhängt und das gesamte Gebiet zur ‚Operation Zone‘ erklärt.

Aung San Suu Kyis Regierung erklärt hingegen, es seien rund 300 Häuser von Aufständischen zerstört worden, die „für Missverständnisse zwischen den Regierungstruppen und dem Volk sorgen wollen„. Gegenteilige Behauptungen wies sie als „Desinformationskampagne von Terroristen“ zurück.

Eine Chronologie der letzten 6 Wochen:

9. Oktober 2016: Laut Polizeiangaben werden drei Grenzschutzposten im Norden von Rakhine von hunderten islamistischer Milizionäre angegriffen, die 9 Polizisten getötet haben sollen. 8 Angreifer sollen während der Anschläge getötet worden sein. Die Polizei behauptet zunächst, die Angreifer hätten Verbindungen zu einer Gruppe namens ‚Rohingya Solidarity Organisation‘, eine militante Gruppe, die mit großer Wahrscheinlichkeit schon seit Jahrzehnten nicht mehr existiert. Das gesamte Gebiet wird zur ‚Operation Zone‘ erklärt und der Ausnahmezustand verhängt.

10. Oktober: Jede humanitäre Hilfe wird eingestellt. Rund 162.000 Menschen in der Region hängen von der Unterstützung aus dem World Food Programme und anderen U.N. Agenturen ab. Truppen werden in die Gebiete um Maungdaw, Buthidaung und Rathedaung in Nord-Rakhine entsendet und in Alarmbereitschaft versetzt.

Innerhalb von Tagen kommen mehr als 800 Buddhisten in der Landeshauptstadt Sittwe an. Mehr als 1.200 Muslime fliehen aus ihren Dörfern und suchten Schutz in der Stadt Buthidaung. Staatliche Medien berichten, daß Buddhisten mit einem Hubschrauber evakuiert wurden. Sie befürchteten, ihre Dörfer würden von Mobs bewaffneter Muslime überfallen.

Die New York Times berichtet, daß ein Dutzend Menschen seit den ersten Angriffen extra-legal hingerichtet worden sein könnten.

14. Oktober: Die Regierung sagt, die Angreifer seien Mitglieder einer jihadistischen Gruppe, Aqa Mul Mujahidin, die von einem von den Taliban in Pakistan ausgebildeten und von ausländischen Terrorgruppen finanziell unterstützten Mann geführt würden. Ein paar Tage später, während einer Reise nach Indien, sagt Suu Kyi der Hindustan Times: „Das sind nur Informationen aus nur einer Quelle, wir können nicht sicher sein, daß das absolut richtig ist.

27. Oktober: Fiona MacGregor, eine schottische Investigativ-Journalistin, berichtet in der Myanmar-Times, daß Menschenrechtsgruppen Dutzende sexueller Übergriffe dokumentiert hätten, die von burmesischen Sicherheitskräften gegen Rohingya-Frauen in der Operation Zone begangen worden seien. Am folgenden Tag berichtet auch Reuters. Die Redaktion der Myanmar Times, die einzige private englischsprachige Tageszeitung in Myanmar, wird angewiesen, über die Situation in Arakan bis auf Weiteres nicht zu berichten. (wird erst wieder ab 18. November unter einer neuen Richtlinie fortgesetzt)

MacGregor wird vom ehemaligen Informationsminister Ye Htut und Präsidentschaftssprecher Zaw Htay in den Social Media angegriffen, Online-Belästigung folgt.

31. Oktober: MacGregor wird entlassen, weil sie „den guten Namen der Zeitung“ beschädigt habe. Sie hatte dort mehr als drei Jahren gearbeitet und eine populäre Kolumne geschrieben, die sich auf Frauenfragen konzentriert. Sie behandelt regelmäßig Themen wie sexuelle Übergriffe und die Gesundheit von Frauen, vor allem in den Konfliktzonen. MacGregor:

It is profoundly concerning for women’s rights, media freedom and democracy as a whole in Myanmar, that the civilian government is using bullyboy tactics to intimidate journalists and attempt to silence allegations of rape by the military. We should not forget that at the center of this propaganda war are real people who are allegedly the victims of the most horrible and brutal crimes.

Ihr Redakteur, Douglas Long, wird zwei Wochen später ebenfalls entlassen, weil er „die Mission der Zeitung untergraben“ hätte, kurz nachdem er über den Vorfall mit internationalen Medien und einem Vertreter des Committee to protect Journalists gesprochen hatte. Douglas Long, eine Woche vor seinem Rauswurf zu Time:

With each passing day the current government is starting to look more and more like the pre-2010 government.

1. November: Staatlich kontrollierte Medien beginnen Artikel zu veröffentlichen, die den Journalismus widerlegen sollen, der dem offiziellen Narrativ widerspricht, ganz wie in den Vor-Reformzeiten der Zensur und heftigen Propaganda. Diese Medien kolportieren, daß islamistische Milizen mit ihren Angriffen auf Sicherheitskräfte zu weit gegangen seien und sie eliminiert werden müßten.

Staatliche Medien beschuldigen auch internationale Medien, „in Absprachen mit terroristischen Gruppen zu arbeiten„, indem sie Falschmeldungen verbreiteten.

2. November: Eine Delegation aus neun Diplomaten und einem US-Offiziellen besuchen Teile von Maungdaw zum ersten Mal nach dem 9. Oktober. Die streng überwachte Reise dauert zwei Tage, während der sie vier durch die Regierung ausgewählte Dörfer besuchen. Mitglieder der fürsorglich belagerten Reisegesellschaft – darunter der US-Botschafter Scot Marciel und U.N. Resident Coordinator Renata Dessallien – dürfen mit einigen Dorfbewohnern sprechen. Die Behörden verhaften mindestens zwei Rohingya-Männer, noch während sie mit Mitgliedern der Delegation sprechen. Botschafter Marciel besteht darauf, daß sie sofort freigelassen werden. Verschiedene Rohingya-Quellen berichten, daß Dorfbewohner, die mit der Delegation gesprochen hatten, später festgenommen und geschlagen wurden.

Die Delegationsmitglieder lehnen es ab, ihre Beobachtungen direkt zu kommentieren und betonen, daß es sich nicht um eine Erkundungsmission handele. Sie fordern die Regierung auf, Menschenrechtlern, technischen Fachkräften und Journalisten den Zugang zu ermöglichen. Die Regierung kam dem bis heute nicht nach.

3. November: Der Chef der Staatspolizei Colonel Sein Lwin kündigt Bewaffnung und Ausbildung nicht-muslimischer Zivilisten durch die örtliche Polizei an. Das Trainingsprogramm für diese Bürgerwehren, von der International Commission of Jurists als „a recipe for disaster“ bezeichnet, soll am 7. November für etwa 100 Rekruten beginnen. Reuters berichtet, daß derlei bereits in der Landeshauptstadt Sittwe stattfindet.

12. November: Die burmesische Armee eröffnet das Feuer aus Hubschraubern in der Nähe von Dörfern in Maungdaw. Die staatlich kontrollierte Zeitung Global New Light of Myanmar berichtet, daß etwa 60 Angreifer, mit „Pistolen, Stöcken und Speeren“ bewaffnet, Soldaten angegriffen und einen getötet hätten. Das Militär schießt als Antwort von zwei Hubschraubern aus in die Felder. In zwei Tagen dieser Gewaltausübung werden schätzungsweise 15.000 Menschen vertrieben. Videos, die internationale Hilfsorganisationen erreichen, zeigen in den Feldern liegende Leichen. Laut Regierung wurden 69 ‚gewalttätige Angreifer‘ getötet und 234 verhaftet. Die Zahlen werden im Laufe des Tages immer höher.

Einige Beobachter nennen die Reaktion der Armee auf die angebliche terroristische Bedrohung „heavy-handed“, andere vergleichen sie mit der so genannten Four-Cuts-Strategie, die jahrzehntelang angewendet wurde, um Aufständische unter den vielen Ethnien in Myanmar zu isolieren. Laut Phil Roberston, dem stellvertretenden Asien-Direktor für Human Rights Watch, seien die Operationen gegen „ragtag Rohingya militants with a few guns, some sticks and spears“ anders. Roberston spricht gegenüber Time von „verbrannter Erde“:

The real comparison is the Tatmadaw’s penchant for scorched earth tactics when they feel like they are challenged in any way, and that’s why some of the Rohingya villages where the authorities suspect militants may have hidden are being targeted for looting and burning, and sweeps have taken away so many men and boys.

15. November: Die staatlichen Medien in Burma führen das „True News Information Team of Defense Services“ ein, das lokale und regionale Medien aussondert und herausstellt, die „fabrications“ über Opfer und beschädigtes Eigentum herausgegeben haben. Mindestens ein lokaler muslimischer Journalist wurde extremen Online-Belästigungen ausgesetzt, darunter auch Todesdrohungen.

18. November: Der Zugang für humanitäre Hilfe wurde in Maungdaw nicht wiederhergestellt. Nach dem diplomatischen Besuch Anfang November darf die U.N. in sieben Dörfern begrenzte Nahrungsmittelhilfe für etwa 7.200 Menschen leisten. Diese dürftige Auslieferung dauerte nur zwei Wochen an und läuft zu dem Zeitpunkt ab, als die Nahrungsmittelknappheit auf ihrem Höhepunkt ist. Die Lieferungen werden voraussichtlich in dieser Woche ganz enden müssen.

Laut Pierre Peron, Sprecher des U.N. Büros zur Koordinierung humanitärer Angelegenheiten in Birma sind regelmäßige Nahrungsmittel-, Bargeld- und Ernährungshilfen für mehr als 150.000 Menschen seit dem 9. Oktober suspendiert. Während dieser Zeit haben mehr als 3.000 Kinder unter 5 Jahren keine Behandlung für schwere akute Mangelernährung erhalten, sodaß bis zu 50% dieser Kinder in Todesgefahr sind.

Jede Basisgesundheitsversorgung für bis zu 24.000 Menschen/Monat ist ausgesetzt. Peron hält das für „sehr besorgniserregend, wenn man bedenkt, daß die Säuglings-und Müttersterblichkeit in Maungdaw ohnehin bis zu viermal höher ist als im nationalen Durchschnitt.

Der Sonderberichterstatter der Vereinten Nationen für Menschenrechte in Birma, Yanghee Lee, forderte die Regierung am Freitag auf, unverzüglich Maßnahmen zu ergreifen. Lee:

The security forces must not be given carte blanche to step up their operations under the smoke screen of having allowed access to an international delegation.

Aung San Suu Kyi lächelt und schweigt lügt und der Genozid an den Rohingya nimmt weiter ungestört seinen Lauf.

Foto: Screenshot bei Twitter


31 Gedanken zu „Verbrannte Erde

    • New York Times Editorial: Myanmar’s War on the Rohingya

      Myanmar has long persecuted the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority, denying it basic rights to citizenship, to marry, to worship and to an education. After violence unleashed in 2012 by Buddhist extremists drove tens of thousands of Rohingya out of their homes, many risked their lives to escape in smugglers’ boats; more than 100,000 others are living in squalid internment camps. Now, a counterinsurgency operation by Myanmar’s military is again forcing thousands of Rohingya to abandon their villages.

      Over the weekend and on Monday, according to Reuters, hundreds of Rohingya Muslims crossed from Myanmar into Bangladesh seeking shelter from the escalating violence. An official from the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations agency, told the news agency that he had seen more than 500 people enter its camps in the hills near the border. Meanwhile, Reuters also reported fighting between security forces and rebels on Myanmar’s border with China.

      The military’s counterinsurgency operation began as a response to an attack on Oct. 9 by armed assailants that left nine police officers dead in Rakhine State. It is not clear who the assailants were, and theories range from drug gangs to Islamist terrorists. Since then, more than 100 people, mostly civilians, have been killed by the military. Satellite images published by Human Rights Watch indicate that at least 430 homes were burned in villages in northern Rakhine State between Oct. 22 and Nov. 10.

      There are credible allegations of soldiers looting, killing unarmed people and raping women. The government denies this. U Aung Win, the chairman of a Rakhine State investigation into the Oct. 9 attack, said soldiers would not rape Rohingya women because they “are very dirty.”

      The Oct. 9 attack may have been set off by an earlier government announcement that it planned to destroy illegal structures in the area, including more than 2,500 homes, 600 shops, a dozen mosques and more than 30 schools. “That was saying we have to reduce the population of Rohingya,” said U Kyaw Min, a Rohingya who is the chairman of the Democracy and Human Rights Party.

      Unicef has warned that thousands of malnourished children are in danger of starving and lack medical care. The government must immediately allow aid to reach those in need. The United Nations and the United States are calling for an impartial investigation into the violence, and Human Rights Watch is urging the government to invite the United Nations to assist. If Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi wants to defend her reputation as a human rights champion, she needs to extend that invitation now.

      • Poppy McPherson, Guardian (18.11.16): ‘It will blow up’: fears Myanmar’s deadly crackdown on Muslims will spiral out of control

        Kyaw Hla Aung’s voice trembles as he speaks.

        “The situation is really bad here,” he says, sitting in a bamboo hut inside an internment camp on the outskirts of Sittwe, capital of Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state.

        The 77-year-old Rohingya Muslim community leader, a former lawyer, was jailed numerous times for political activities under Myanmar’s former military governments. He is used to scrutiny. But, this time, he says it is different.

        “The military came and they are warning everybody not to keep any strangers,” he says.

        Rohingya in the camps, where tens of thousands have been confined since communal violence in 2012, have stopped gathering in groups to avoid attracting suspicion. In at least one village they were ordered by the army to demolish fences surrounding their homes.

        There is good reason to be afraid. A few dozen miles north, in northern Rakhine’s Maungdaw township, a conflict is raging between the military and the Rohingya population. A series of deadly attacks on security forces by a group apparently supported by members of the diaspora has raised the spectre of a new insurgency. It has also prompted a severe crackdown.

        Rohingya in Sittwe say they know nothing about any militant group. Many believe the episode is a creation of the army, which still wields tremendous power despite a handover to civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi earlier this year. But some warn that oppression of the minority is heading towards breaking point.

        A recent report by Physicians for Human Rights documented how restrictions on movement, land confiscation, pervasive surveillance and extortion in northern Rakhine since the 2012 clashes had left some 120,000 displaced.

        “Now, it’s been four years with people in these conditions and suffering; many young people spending their teenage, adult years with nothing to do,” says Kyaw Hla Aung.

        Asked whether he thinks there is an insurgency, he says: “No, no, but they are suffering and suffering and suffering, so they cannot bear, so it will blow up.”

        In a statement published a few days after October’s attacks, the government blamed a previously unknown armed group of “extremists”, Aqa-Mul-Mujahidin, whose leader, named as Haviz Tohar, allegedly trained with the Pakistani Taliban. Aung San Suu Kyi later appeared to walk back on some of those claims, saying they were based on information that may not be credible.

        Meanwhile, videos posted online by a group calling itself the Faith Movement show a contingent of young men, and some boys, armed with swords and some guns, claiming to be Rohingya freedom fighters.

        According to analysts from the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium (Trac), at least seven videos were posted between 10 and 27 October. None mention Aqa-Mul-Mujahidin or Haviz Tohar. Instead, some introduce a “chief” named as Abu Ammar Junooni, a bearded man sitting in the centre of a small band of men.

        “Each video calls for an armed struggle,” says Veryan Khan, editorial director at Trac, while three “specifically call for a jihad”.

        Some of the clips give a list of demands, including the restoration of Rohingya ethnic rights, and stress their “self-defence” is focused on the military. An English-language “press statement” says the group is “free from all elements of terror but seeks fundamental rights for all Arakanese [Rakhine]”.

        Tin Maung Shwe, a senior Rakhine state official, says security had been boosted across the country. “This is a murder case,” he says. “We will take action against everyone who committed this. If they are living in Myanmar, they have to follow Myanmar’s constitution, whatever their race is.”

        Militancy in Rakhine state is not a recent phenomenon. Muslim movements demanding an autonomous region in northern Rakhine cropped up throughout the latter half of the 20th century. These included the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO), thought to have been defunct since the 2000s.

        A transcript of an audio recording obtained by a source familiar with the Rohingya diaspora and shared with the Guardian features a man saying the people involved are “not only RSO”.

        The man, believed to be an ethnic Rohingya living abroad, describes the 9 October attacks as a “big success”.

        “These are our people and the system of the people is working well,” he says, stressing that “help” can be sent through an underground network of individuals.

        “They [Myanmar military] looked down on us, ignored us and kept silence by saying that our kalars [a derogatory term for Muslims] do not have anything. Insha Allah, we succeeded.”

        Speaking a few days after the release of the government statement, Ehsan Ullah Batth, Pakistan’s ambassador to Myanmar, said he had received no “actionable information” about Pakistani involvement.

        Of an alleged accomplice the government named Kalis, purportedly Pakistani, he said: “I don’t find any such name in Pakistan.”

        While connections to international organisations may be uncovered, the demands of the videos are locally focused: liberation of Rohingya from the camps, restoration of citizenship and property.

        Richard Horsey, a Yangon-based political analyst, says: “I think what is important to stress is that so far the modus operandi of the attackers has been similar to the old RSO and other insurgent groups, not terrorism – that is, attacks have been on security targets, not civilians or religious sites.”

        Matthew Smith, founder and chief executive of non-profit Fortify Rights, agrees. “The militants don’t appear to be well-organised or well-armed, and they’re tiny compared to dozens of other armed groups or militias in the country,” he says.

        “If this [Rohingya militancy] is a strategy to negotiate with the army, and to have a seat at the table alongside other ethnic armies in the peace process, it’s profoundly ill-conceived.

        “We fear the military will unleash an unprecedented wrath on northern Rakhine state, and that won’t bode well for Rohingya rights.”

        In the displacement camp outside Sittwe, Kyaw Hla Aung says Rohingya leaders were recently called to a meeting with the military. “We submitted to them that, in Sittwe, our people didn’t involve in this case.”

        Past the army base and razor-wire fences that divide the camps from Rakhine Buddhist neighbourhoods, the Muslim ghetto in downtown Sittwe is racked with fear.

        “We are doing security for the quarter by ourselves,” says one Rohingya leader during a few snatched moments of conversation out of sight of a plainclothes police officer.

        “We are not sleeping at night, we sleep in the morning, wake up in the evening. After the Maungdaw attacks, we are afraid someone will take revenge.”

        • Press Release Fortify Rights (5.11.16): Scrap Plan to Arm Civilians in Rakhine State




























          In October 2015, the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School found “strong evidence” to establish the elements of the crime of genocide against Rohingya in Rakhine State.

      • BBC: Rohingya villages ‚destroyed‘ in Myanmar, images show

        … The BBC cannot independently verify the extent of destruction in Rohingya villages as the government has blocked international journalists from visiting the area, from where tens of thousands of people have fled.

        But a BBC correspondent on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border has spoken with fleeing Rohingya families who described what was happening in northern Rakhine as „hell on earth“.

        The government of Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, says that the Rohingya are setting fire to their own homes to attract international attention.

        Myanmar border

        I had the opportunity to talk to at least five families who fled from their homes in Myanmar to take shelter in Bangladesh, joining more than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims already living here unofficially.

        Those I spoke to said the Burmese military are burning the houses of the Rohingya, they are committing torture and women are being raped.

        They described what has been occurring in northern Rakhine state for the past month as „hell on earth“.

        While the Myanmar military are launching an anti-insurgency operation, the Rohingya who fled told me they are being targeted indiscriminately. They say that they too are in favour of punishing the perpetrators of attacks on border police, but innocent Rohingya are being targeted as part of the current crackdown.

        What is happening in Rakhine state?

        A massive security operation was launched last month after nine police officers were killed in co-ordinated attacks on border posts in Maungdaw.

        Some government officials blamed a militant Rohingya group for the attack. Security forces then sealed off access to Maungdaw district and launched a counter-insurgency operation.

        Rohingya activists say more than 100 people have been killed and hundreds arrested amid the crackdown.

        Soldiers have also been accused of serious human rights abuses, including torture, rape and executions, which the government has flatly denied.


        Bangladesh has beefed up its security presence on the border as hundreds of Rohingya try to flee there.

      • Washington Post: Another crisis for one of the most persecuted peoples in the world

        … The motivation of the armed attackers on Oct. 9 is unknown. By some reports, they may have belonged to the Rohingya Solidarity Organization, a militant group active in the 1980s and 1990s that was thought to be defunct. Another explanation is that the attackers were reacting to harsh plans by the state to raze a large number of structures — including schools and homes — saying they were built illegally. Either way, Rohingya are right to fear events that could quickly spiral into much wider repression at the hands of the military, which retains considerable clout in Burma’s power structure.

        The plight of the Rohingya has long been a blind spot for Aung San Suu Kyi. In the latest crisis, she has suggested that complaints be taken to an advisory commission on Rakhine state created this year and led by former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan. This is not enough. She should instruct that a full investigation be conducted by the national government, that the conflict zone be opened to independent journalists and human rights monitors, and that the military avoid indiscriminate killing and punishment. Burma’s road to freeing itself from the past means facing directly the suffering of the Rohingya.

  1. Al Jazeera News: Myanmar accused of new destruction of Rohingya villages

    Human Rights Watch says over 1,200 structures have been destroyed in Myanmar based on high-definition satellite images.

    High-definition satellite images show 820 newly identified structures destroyed in five Rohingya Muslim villages in the Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state this month where the military is carrying out counter-insurgency operations, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

    In a statement released on Monday, the US-based group urged the government to invite the United Nations to assist in an impartial investigation.

    „These alarming new satellite images confirm that the destruction in Rohingya villages is far greater and in more places than the government has admitted,“ said Brad Adams, HRW’s Asia director.

    Myanmar president’s spokesman accused HRW of exaggeration last week after the release of an initial set of satellite imagery that showed 430 destroyed buildings in three villages.

    He accused the international media of misreporting the situation in Rakhine, where the government has mounted a massive, ongoing security operation since nine police officers were killed by unidentified assailants who attacked guard posts in Maungdaw village bordering Bangladesh last month.

    The government has acknowledged using helicopter gunships in support of ground troops in the operations.

    Rohingya Muslims face intense discrimination, repression and violence in Rakhine state. Viewed as illegal migrants, they have frequently been targeted by the Buddhist Rakhine majority.

    The state refuses to grant them citizenship even though they have lived in the region for generations.

    More than 100,000 Rohingya still live in camps after being driven from their homes following clashes with the Rakhine people in 2012.
    ‚Hundreds of arrests‘

    HRW said the new satellite imagery – recorded on November 10, 17 and 18 – brings the number of destroyed buildings documented by it to 1,250.

    Ko Ko Linn, an activist of Arakan Rohingya National Organisation, said hundreds of arrests have been made, at least 1,000 houses in Maungdaw burned down and more than 100 people have been killed.

    These claims, however, are impossible to verify, as are the government allegations because of access restrictions on journalists and aid workers.

    On Friday, the UN warned of a worsening rights situation in Rakhine state.

    Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes amid the security operation.

    Humanitarian assistance has been suspended and civilians are reported to be caught up in military action, and there are reports of human rights abuses, including the alleged rape and sexual assault of women and girls.

  2. Refugees International hat soeben einen Report zur Lebenssituation der aus Myanmar nach Malaysia und Thailand geflüchteten Rohingya veröffentlicht: Still Adrift – Failure to protect Rohingya in Malaysia and Thailand

    In Myanmar leben noch etwa 1,1 Million Rohingya, etwa 1,5 Millionen sind im Exil. Der rassistische Plan in Myanmar geht auf – wir alle sehen einem Genozid zu und keinen interessierts. War da nicht mal was mit „Nie wieder“?
    Aber die Rohingya haben einfach nicht die richtige Hautfarbe/Religion.

    Die beiden folgenden Artikel beschließen die deutschspachige Berichterstattung über die Pogrome, man beachte eine Wortwahl wie „sogenannte Rohingya“ und den Umstand, daß es sich beim Beschuß aus Militärhubschraubern um „Aufständische“ und bei detailliert berichtenden Menschenrechtsorganisationen um „Aktivisten“ handelt.

    Deutsche Welle: Myanmar – Militär geht nach Berichten brutal gegen muslimische Minderheit vor

    Der Konflikt in Myanmar zwischen den Streitkräften und der muslimischen Minderheit im Nordwesten des Landes schwelt schon seit Jahren. Nun ist das Militär nach einem Bericht der Menschenrechtsorganisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) brutal gegen die sogenannten Rohingya vorgegangen.

    Die Armee hatte im Oktober Truppen in das Siedlungsgebiet der Rohingya an der Grenze zu Bangladesch entsandt, nachdem es dort eine Serie koordinierter Angriffe auf Grenzposten gegeben hatte. Mehr als 30.000 Menschen flohen nach Angaben der Vereinten Nationen vor den anschließenden Gefechten, viele davon nach Bangladesch. Dutzende Menschen wurden getötet, die meisten von ihnen in einem Zeitraum von zwei Tagen, als die Armee schwere Waffen wie Kampfhubschrauber gegen die Aufständischen einsetzte.

    Den Staatsmedien zufolge wurden insgesamt fast 70 Menschen von den Sicherheitskräften getötet und mehr als 400 festgenommen. Aktivisten allerdings gehen von weit höheren Zahlen aus. Augenzeugen schildern, dass Frauen vergewaltigt und Häuser geplündert wurden. Da unabhängigen Beobachtern und Journalisten der Zugang zu der Region verwehrt ist, gibt es wenig gesicherte Informationen.

    ORF: Aktivisten: Über 1.000 Rohingya-Häuser in Myanmar zerstört

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) hat den Streitkräften Myanmars vorgeworfen, bei dem Konflikt mit der muslimischen Minderheit der Rohingya seien mehr als 1.000 Häuser zerstört worden.

    Die Menschenrechtsorganisation erklärte heute nach Auswertung von Satellitenbildern, sie habe 820 weitere Häuser identifiziert, die zwischen 10. und 18. November zerstört worden seien. Insgesamt seien damit während einer vor sechs Wochen begonnenen Militäroperation im Bundesstaat Rakhine 1.250 Gebäude zerstört worden.
    Mehr als 30.000 Menschen geflohen

    „Anstatt wie zur Zeit der Militärjunta mit Vorwürfen und Leugnung zu reagieren, sollte sich die Regierung den Tatsachen stellen“, forderte der HRW-Direktor für Asien, Brad Adams. Die Regierung von Friedensnobelpreisträgerin Aung San Suu Kyi hat erklärt, rund 300 Häuser seien von Aufständischen zerstört worden, die „für Missverständnisse zwischen den Regierungstruppen und dem Volk sorgen wollen“. Gegenteilige Behauptungen wies sie als Desinformationskampagne von „Terroristen“ zurück.

    Die Armee hatte im Oktober Truppen in das Siedlungsgebiet der Rohingya an der Grenze zu Bangladesch entsandt, nachdem es dort eine Serie koordinierter Angriffe auf Grenzposten gegeben hatte. Mehr als 30.000 Menschen flohen nach UNO-Angaben vor den anschließenden Gefechten, viele davon nach Bangladesch. Dutzende Menschen wurden getötet.

  3. Reuters: Hundreds more Myanmar Rohingya flee to Bangladesh: aid workers


    An official from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations‘ migration agency, who did not want to be identified, said he had witnessed more than 500 people enter its camps in the hills near the border on Monday.






    Myanmar’s army has declared an „operations zone“ in mainly Muslim northern Rakhine, where it says it is battling Islamist-inspired Rohingya insurgents, and it is not possible for international reporters to enter the area to verify claims.





    „The idea is to help them where they are, so that they wouldn’t be forced to cross over into Bangladesh,“ Vivian Tan, regional public information officer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, told Reuters Television.

    „If they can’t get the assistance where they are then, if they are forced to cross into another country like Bangladesh, we’re really appealing to the Bangladeshi government to honor its long tradition of hospitality and open its borders to these refugees.“

  4. (Mit Salz->) PressTV: Bangladesh prevents 125 Rohingya Muslims from entering country

    Bangladeshi coast guards have pushed back 125 Rohingya Muslims, mostly women and children, as the desperate group attempted to enter the Bangladeshi territory to flee violence and persecution back in their home country Myanmar.

    Bangladeshi authorities on Friday prevented the refugees, crammed into seven wooden boats, from ducking on the Bangladeshi side of the Naf River, which separates Bangladesh’s southeastern border from western Myanmar, said Nafiur Rahman, a local coast guard official, on Saturday.

    “They included 61 women and 36 children. We resisted them from entering our water territory,” he said, adding that all of them had been nationals of Myanmar, escaping an uptick of violent clashes in neighboring Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

    • Dhaka Tribune: Rohingya migration is an uncomfortable issue

      The home minister told reporters at the secretariat that the BGB and Coast Guard were alerted to prevent potential crimes at the borders.

      Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Bangladesh Coast Guard had been alerted to prevent entrance by illegal migrants at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.

      The minister made the statement while speaking with reporters at the Secretariat after a meeting on smuggling and trafficking at the borders on Sunday afternoon.

      “Rohingya migration is an uncomfortable issue for Bangladesh. Hopefully, no more illegal migration will be happen at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border now,” Kamal said.

      He said the move was to prevent illegal migration of Rohingyas.

      “We have decided to set up surveillance at all of the land ports and will also conduct more drives against the smuggling of illegal firearms at the entry and exit points of the borders.”

    • The Financial Express: BGB push back 114 more Rohingyas to Myanmar

      Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) pushed back another 114 Myanmar citizens who were trying to cross over using various points on the border.

      BGB officials said that they were sent back over zero ground at Teknaf upazila of Cox’s Bazar district and Ghumdum of Bandarban’s Naikhongchari throughout Monday, according to a news agency report.

      Rohingya Muslim refugees were trying to enter Bangladesh after Myanmar army started a crackdown over fatal attacks on three of its border security posts on Oct 9, the sources said.

      Maj Abu Rasel, Battalion Deputy Commander of Teknaf 2, said, the BGB were alert against trespassers. They have pushed back from early Monday to midnight more than 80 Rohingyas who were trying to cross the zero point at Naf River.

      Another 37 were sent back through various points at Ghumdhum, said Cox’s Bazar 34 Battalion Commander Lt Col Imran Ullah Sarkar.

      The BGB pushed back 125 on Nov 19.

      The army began operations in Rakhine state districts with the highest concentration of Rohingya, religious minorities in the majority Buddhist country.

      There are more than 0.50 million Rohingya Muslims living in refugee camps in Bangladesh, according to the government, due to violent ethnic clashes in their homeland.

    • UCANews: No Bangladeshi welcome for fleeing Rohingya

      Boatloads of Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in Myanmar have been denied entry into Bangladesh exasperating international rights groups and a Catholic Church official.

      Theophil Nokrek, secretary of the Catholic bishops‘ Justice and Peace Commission, criticized the Bangladesh government for pushing back about 300 Rohingya people.

      „It is really disappointing to see Rohingyas again facing persecution in Myanmar even though the country has a civilian government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Meanwhile, the Bangladesh government has taken an unjust stance by refusing entry and shelter to Rohingyas fearing for their lives,“ he told

  5. Der Standard berichtet selber nicht, empfiehlt aber für Nachrichten aus Myanmar (unter „Burma“) u.a. die Seiten von Mizzima, „Nachrichten organisiert von burmesischen Exilanten“. Dort: More Rohingya villages razed in Myanmar’s Rakhine: HRW (ich glaube, den Link habe ich hier noch nicht entdeckt).

    Und weiter wird wenigstens in anderen österreichischen Medien berichtet, hier z.B. unter Berufung auf HRW Tiroler Tageszeitung:

    Danke, dass Sie Berichterstattung für Deutschland übernehmen (^^)!
    Grüßle, Diander

  6. Max Bearak, Washington Post: Rohingyas are fleeing a scorched-earth campaign in Burma. Bangladesh is sending them back

    The broad estuary of the Naf River separates Bangladesh and Burma. On both sides of the Naf, armed forces have massed of late. The countries aren’t at war — against each other at least. Rather, the soldiers are on the lookout for members of the Rohingya ethnic group. Burma wants them out. Bangladesh wants them to turn around and go back.

    On Wednesday alone, Bangladeshi police said that more than 500 Rohingya Muslims made a desperate voyage across the Naf, adding to the thousands who have crossed in recent days. For the past month, human rights groups have documented the burning of entire Rohingya villages by Burma’s military. But the Bangladeshis, who for the most part share the Bengali language and Muslim faith with the Rohingyas, say they have no room for refugees.


  7. BBC: Myanmar wants ethnic cleansing of Rohingya – UN official


    The government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been conducting counter-insurgency operations since coordinated attacks on border guards in October.

    It denies reports of atrocities.

    A spokesman said the government was „very, very disappointed“ by the comments.

    Burmese officials say Rohingya are setting fire to their own houses in northern Rakhine state. The BBC cannot visit the area to verify what is occurring there, as journalists and aid workers have been barred.

    Efforts to resolve the issue must focus on „the root cause“ inside Myanmar, Mr McKissick, head of the UN refugee agency UNHCR in the Bangladeshi border town of Cox’s Bazar, told BBC Bengali’s Akbar Hossain.

    He said the Myanmar military and Border Guard Police had „engaged in collective punishment of the Rohingya minority“ after the murders of nine border guards on 9 October which some politicians blamed on a Rohingya militant group.

    Security forces have been „killing men, shooting them, slaughtering children, raping women, burning and looting houses, forcing these people to cross the river“ into Bangladesh, Mr McKissick said.


  8. Oliver Holmes, Guardian: Rohingya flee to Bangladesh to escape Myanmar military strikes

    On Tuesday, Bangladesh said it had sent 20 boats carrying Rohingya back to Myanmar. They said they were fleeing military sweeps, which were launched in response to a coordinated attack by armed men on 9 October who killed nine police officers.

    Seven Rohingya were feared drowned after a boat sank during an attempt to cross a river while trying to escape. “There was a group of people from our village who crossed the river by boat to come here, but suddenly the boat sank,” Humayun Kabir told Reuters, adding that three of his children were missing.

    John McKissick, the head of the UN refugee agency’s office in the Bangladeshi coastal resort town of Cox’s Bazar, said the country should assist and protect them.


    In an interview on Thursday with the BBC, however, McKissick said keeping the border open “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.”

  9. amnesty international: Bangladesh pushes back Rohingya refugees amid collective punishment in Myanmar

    Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers being detained and forcibly returned
    Lack of water, food and medical care
    Both governments preventing thousands from accessing aid
    Harrowing details of Myanmar military attacks on villages























  10. Aus dem Wörterbuch des Unmenschen: Khin Maung Oo, The Global New Light of Myanmar: A Flea Cannot Make a Whirl of Dust, But—-


    Im Stürmer hätte es kaum besser stehen können.

  11. Ro Nay San Lwin, Twitter:


    As of now update: 450+ #Rohingya killed. 270+ women raped. 2000+ homes burnt down. 45000+ displaced. 5000 fled to #Bangladesh. #Myanmar


    3 #Rohingya girls from #DarGyiSar who are sheltering in the field were taken away to unknown location by 10 #Myanmar soldiers today morning


    Eyewitness: At least 20 #Rohingya women from #MyautChaung VT were gang raped by 60+ #Myanmar soldiers on Nov 26th in the afternoon.

    Aus seinem Blog:

    Woman Claiming to Have Been Raped By Myanmar Army. Says 100 More Rohingya Women Also Raped

    November 27, 2016

    Maungdaw, Arakan – A woman claiming to have been raped by Myanmar Military says that 100 more Rohingya women from Sin Thay Pyin hamlet of Laung Don village tract in Northern Maungdaw were also raped by the Military.

    On November 25th, 2016 a group of 500 soldiers were said to have raided Sin Thay Pyin hamlet in Laung Don village tract. Most of the men were able to escape at this time, but 70 men were said to have been left behind and arrested. Afterwards the military was reported to have taken all of the women and children out of their homes and had them gathered in one place. Villagers said many of the women were raped at this time and 3 of the women were also taken away to a nearby forest at this time.

    While the military was present a group of Na La Ta villagers was said to have come and looted the houses in the village.

    A 70 year old villager name Abdul Hafiz, son of Sayed Ahmed, died on Friday the 25th. Witnesses reported that he died as a result of torture. Abdul Hafiz had been arrested earlier in the month on November 14th, and said he was tortured at this time as well. He was released earlier in the month but was unable to flee when the military returned on friday.

    During the day the the women in the village had been outside since 9am, as the military had gathered them. They did not return home until 9pm. Abdul Hafiz’s family found him dead in their home when the women were allowed to return, a villager told RB News. The men who had been arrested earlier in the day were released at 11pm. They said they were severely tortured while thy were detained. After they were released the military left the village.

    Yesterday, November 26th 2016, at 7am a group of 200 soldiers returned to the village and was reported to have tortured the women there and raped many of them as well.

    Women from Sin Thay Pyin East and Middle hamlets fled their villages at this time in fear of rape, but the military was reported to have fired shots in the air to stop them. The women were then forced to gather again under the sun and were stripped naked of all of their clothing, a local woman told RB News. She said the military then stole all of their gold and cash at this time.

    Another eye witness said he witnessed these events from a distance, “I saw all of it. They were firing [shots]. There were about 300 women. They all gathered in the field under the sun. The soldiers forced them to place their scarves in one place, then their blouses, then even their longyis. I saw all of it with my own eyes.”

    The women were said to have been forced to stand naked for two and a half hours I the sun. The soldiers then took advantage of the group of women.

    “More than 100 women were raped. At least 40 killed. Since they took away the dead bodies immediately after killing it is very difficult to say the exact figure. 19 killed on Friday was confirmed.” a rape victim told RB News.

    Three women who were taken away returned yesterday evening. At this time the remaining women and children are believed to still be in the field without any shelter.

    On Friday some dead bodies were buried by the soldiers in Cashew Garden, located in Sabai Gone Village. Yesterday the villagers claimed to have found two mass graves there. The villagers said they had to dig around to find the bodies. They believe there will be more to be found, and said that Na Ta La villagers buried other bodies on the eastern side of the village.

    Yesterday afternoon more than 50 Na La Ta villagers, including a disabled man named Soe Win, came to Sin Thay Pyin hamlet and looted what remained inside the houses there. Witnesses said they saw them loading up hand pulled trolleys with belongings and also taking buffaloes, cows and goats from the village.

  12. Ist nicht alles schlecht in Myanmar:
    Coconuts Yangon: Buddhist monk posts message of tolerance after visiting ‘Nowhere People’ exhibit

    Have you ever imagined being a stateless person who lost a country?
    This sort of thinking is a kind of thought from one person to another.
    But our weakness is that we are not able to think about another person.
    A worse weakness is that we are not able to think about another creature.
    The worst weakness is that we don’t even think of ‘If I were a part of a stateless society.’

    Buddhist monk Ashin Khantisara posted this heartfelt message on Facebook after visiting the Nowhere People exhibit at the Myanmar Deitta gallery in Yangon this week. He was joined by a group of monks from a local religious university.

    Myanmar Deitta hosted Nowhere People – a photography exhibit that explores the lives of stateless people around the world – from November 13 to 27.

    The 10-year project by photographer Greg Constantine includes images and stories of stateless people in 18 countries, including members of Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya community, who are collectively denied citizenship and whose communities in northern Rakhine State have been under a brutal military crackdown since October 9.

  13. Kofi Annan besucht derzeit Myanmar, weswegen Aung San Suu Kyis Regierung schnell den Bock zum Gärtner machte und eine zweifelhaft besetze Kommission ins Leben rief, die die jüngsten Menschenrechtsverletzungen untersuchen soll – bestehend aus Militärs und ohne einen einzigen Rohingya. Detaillierter in der Bangkok Post:

    Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has faced a growing international backlash for failing to probe claims the army is carrying out ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority.

    But rights groups rejected the new 13-member commission as toothless, noting it includes no Muslims and is led by Vice President Myint Swe, a retired army general formerly blacklisted by the United States.

    A close ally of former junta leader Than Shwe, Myint Swe was head of special operations in Rangoon when the military government ordered a bloody crackdown on the monk-led protests of the Saffron Revolution in 2007.

    „We’ve got little faith in another homegrown commission, particularly if it’s headed by a military man,“ said Matthew Smith, chief executive of Fortify Rights.

    „This new commission won’t be capable of conducting a credible human rights investigation, and it certainly lacks independence. The time for an independent international investigation is now.“

    Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch in Asia, said the new commission „doesn’t look like it’s independent or impartial“.

    Suu Kyi’s office said the new commission would investigate the raids on police border posts on October 9 that sparked the deadly military lockdown as well as „international accusations“ of army abuses.

    It is the second body created by Suu Kyi to try to heal the religious divide that has split Rakhine state since deadly sectarian unrest killed more than 100 people in 2012.

    In August she appointed fellow Nobel laureate Annan to head a separate body, which Buddhist nationalists have bitterly denounced as foreign meddling.

    Oo Hla Saw, a senior politician from the Arakan National Party, said „the new commission will do nothing different“.

    „I don’t have much hope for it,“ he told AFP.

    Privately some Muslim leaders in Myanmar also said they were concerned their voices would not be represented, but asked not to be quoted for fear of reprisals.

    More than 10,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh in recent weeks, the United Nations said on Wednesday, fleeing a bloody army crackdown in the north of Rakhine state.



    On Friday, former UN chief Annan was greeted by protesters holding signs reading „Ban the Kofi Annan commission“ as he touched down in Sittwe airport on his first trip to Rakhine since the crisis erupted.

    Commission member Aye Lwin told AFP the trip was for „gathering facts… we won’t be giving any conclusion“.

  14. Channel NewsAsia, aus einem Interview mit Aung San Suu Kyi, sie meint:

    We have managed to keep the situation under control and to calm it down …

    But I would appreciate it so much if the international community would help us to maintain peace and stability and to make progress in building better relations between the two communities instead of always drumming up calls for, well, for bigger fires of resentment, if you like.

    It’s not just Muslims who are nervous and worried. The Rakhine are worried too, they are worried about the fact that they are shrinking as a Rakhine population percentage-wise, and of course, we cannot ignore the fact that the relationship between the two communities has not been good and we want to try to make it better.

    But it doesn’t help if everybody is just concentrating on the negative side of the situation in spite of the fact that there were attacks against police outposts which began on Oct 9.

    Auf den Einwand hin, daß nicht nur die internationale Community die Gewalt und die Regierungspolitik gegen die Rohingya kritisiert, sagt sie:

    I know that. I’m not saying there are no difficulties, but it helps if people recognise the difficulty and are more focused on resolving these difficulties rather than exaggerating them so that everything seems worse than it really is.

  15. Dake Kang/AFP, The Seattle Times zum gleichen Thema:

    On Thursday … (Aung San Suu Kyi) announced the formation of a new commission to probe conditions that led to the recent violence and “investigate whether existing laws, rules and regulations were observed.”





  16. Maung Zarni und Gregory Stanton, The Wire: Sorry, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Rohingya Crisis Is No Laughing Matter

    But Suu Kyi’s silence on the ongoing massacre of Rohingyas has not gone unnoticed. Fellow Nobel laureates and world leaders continue to call on her to stop the genocide being perpetrated by the Burmese generals, whose partnership and cooperation she depends on for her influence.

    Not only have these calls fallen on deaf ears but they have become a laughing matter for Suu Kyi and much of the Burmese population, who remain deeply enthralled with the woman they call mother.

    In her live webcast town hall meeting this week with thousands of adoring Burmese supporters in Singapore, where Suu Kyi was on a three-day official visit, she took a question from the audience, which framed the growing allegations of rape, arson and slaughter of Rohingyas as “external fabrications”. Suu Kyi agreed that the allegations are “fabrications”. Then, she laughed out loud.

    Dieng and Yanghee Lee, UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, have requested independent UN investigations on the alleged ‘ethnic cleansing’ and other mass atrocities in the Rohingya region of Rakhine State. Instead, Suu Kyi’s government announced the establishment of a “national inquiry commission” with vice president Myint Swe as chair. Myint Swe, a former lieutenant general, also previously headed military intelligence and coordinated the border affairs army division, one of the main persecutors of the Rohingyas.

    Suu Kyi and her government are in complete denial of the genocidal massacres being perpetrated against the Rohingya. When a Nobel Peace Prize finds allegations of genocide funny, she becomes undeserving of the prize. In fact, Suu Kyi should be prosecuted for complicity in the crimes.

  17. Vanessa Steinmetz, SPON: Der vergessene Völkermord

    Die Gewaltverbrechen des burmesischen Militärs an den Rohingya sorgen für Entsetzen. Dabei ist schon seit Jahren ein versteckter Genozid an der muslimischen Minderheit im Gange, wie eine Studie zeigt.

    Die muslimische Minderheit der Rohingya wird in Burma brutal unterdrückt. Allein in den vergangenen Wochen sind mindestens 86 von ihnen wohl vom Militär erschossen worden. Soldaten sollen Frauen der Rohingya vergewaltigt und ganze Dörfer in Brand gesteckt haben. Die Menschenrechtsorganisation Amnesty International warf der burmesischen Armee am Montag vor, mit einer „äußerst harten und systematischen Gewaltkampagne“ gegen die Volksgruppe vorzugehen.

    Tatsächlich sind die Rohingya schon seit Jahren massiv bedroht – von Hunger, Infekten und Hygienemangel.

    Das zeigt eine neue Studie der der renommierten Harvard Medical School in Boston. Grundlage der Untersuchung sind Daten unterschiedlicher Hilfsorganisationen und Beobachter der EU und den USA. Die Wissenschaftler werfen der Regierung Burmas Völkermord oder zumindest eine ethnische Säuberung vor.

    Der Staat verweigert den teils schon seit Generationen in dem Land lebenden Muslimen die Staatsbürgerschaft, nationalistische Buddhisten bezeichnen sie als illegale Einwanderer aus Bangladesch. Viele sind in heruntergekommenen Camps nahe der Grenze untergebracht. Seit Oktober hat sich die Lage noch einmal zugespitzt: Bei Angriffen auf Grenzposten wurden neun Polizisten ermordet, nach Angaben der Behörden von Muslimen. Danach begannen Beobachtern zufolge die Gewaltverbrechen des Militärs.

    Besonders gravierend aber ist, dass die Rohingya in Rakhine seitdem nicht mehr mit Hilfslieferungen versorgt werden; die Regierung hat das Gebiet abgeriegelt.

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