…Says Restrictions on international aid putting thousands Rohingya at risk

The statement by Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s office, which claims that the government is defending all the people in Rakhine state “in the best possible way”, is unconscionable, Amnesty International said.

“This is a human rights and humanitarian catastrophe. In her first comments on the crisis, instead of promising concrete action to protect the people in Rakhine state, Aung San Suu Kyi appears to be downplaying the horrific reports coming out of the area,” said Tirana Hassan, Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Director.

The Myanmar authorities’ restrictions on international aid in Rakhine state is putting tens of thousands of lives at risk in a region where mainly Rohingya people are already suffering horrific abuses from a disproportionate military campaign, Amnesty International said.

Aid workers told Amnesty International of an increasingly desperate humanitarian situation in Rakhine state, where the military has been engaged in a large-scale operation since attacks on dozens of security posts on 25 August, claimed by the armed group Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.

“With tens of thousands of Rohingya pouring across the border and thousands of others displaced in the state, the evidence that the Myanmar military has launched a vicious campaign of retaliatory violence against the predominantly Muslim Rohingya people is overwhelming. The government must allow immediate and unfettered access to aid organizations, which have been blocked from helping those who are stranded in the northern part of the state.”

The government must allow immediate and unfettered access to aid organizations, which have been blocked from helping those who are stranded in the northern part of the state

Tirana Hassan, Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Director

Following attacks by a Rohingya armed group on 25 August, and the subsequent campaign of violence perpetrated by the military against the Rohngya community in Rakhine state, about 146,000 Rohingya people, mostly women and children, have crossed into neighbouring Bangladesh, leading to a major humanitarian crisis.

Tirana Hassan, Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Director, is currently on the ground in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh next to the border with Myanmar. She is available for interviews on topics including:

Violations and crimes under international law committed by the Myanmar army

The looming humanitarian crisis in Rakhine state

The situation for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

Root causes and long-term discrimination against Rohingya

“Rakhine state is on the precipice of a humanitarian disaster. Nothing can justify denying life-saving aid to desperate people. By blocking access for humanitarian organizations, Myanmar’s authorities have put tens of thousands of people at risk and shown a callous disregard for human life,” said Tirana Hassan, Amnesty International’s Director for Crisis Response.

“These restrictions will affect all communities in Rakhine State. The government must immediately change course and allow humanitarian organizations full and unfettered access to all parts of the state to assist people in need.”

Aid activities have been suspended in the northern part of the state for the last week, while in other parts authorities are denying humanitarian actors access to communities in need, predominantly people from the Rohingya minority. According to humanitarian workers, restrictions on their activities and access began in early August but deteriorated significantly since the 25 August attacks.

Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee from their homes since the violence began. According to latest UN estimates 90,000 Rohingya refugees have crossed the border into Bangladesh, while the Myanmar government has evacuated over 11,000 people belonging to other ethnic minority communities living in northern Rakhine State.

Thousands of people – mostly Rohingya – are believed to be stranded in the mountains of northern Rakhine State, where the UN and international NGOs are unable to assess their needs or to provide shelter, food and protection.

One humanitarian official working on Rakhine State told Amnesty International:

“The Muslims are starving in their homes. Markets are closed and people can’t leave their villages, except to flee. There is widespread intimidation by the authorities, who are clearly using food and water as a weapon.”

Rohingya refugees who have fled into Bangladesh have spoken of witnessing horrific abuses by the Myanmar security forces, including killings of people trying to flee and burning of whole villages.

In late 2016, the Myanmar army launched a vicious campaign in response to an attack by Rohingya militants. At the time, Amnesty International documented violations by the army including rapes, killings, torture and burning of villages, which may have amounted to crimes against humanity.

“The Myanmar military has responded to the militant attacks in a completely disproportionate way. Its campaign of violence is again targeting ordinary Rohingya people on the basis of their ethnicity and religion and must end immediately,” said Tirana Hassan.

“The Myanmar authorities are obliged under international law to treat all those living in Rakhine State, including the Rohingya, without discrimination. Instead, they have chosen to treat a whole population as an enemy which may be attacked, killed, deprived of homes and uprooted indiscriminately.”

The government has further exacerbated the situation by accusing international humanitarian workers of supporting the Rohingya armed group after INGO-branded food items were found in an alleged militant camp in northern Rakhine State.

“The accusation that international humanitarian organizations are supporting armed actors in Rakhine State is both reckless and irresponsible. Humanitarian workers have for decades supported the Myanmar people, providing aid and assistance in times of need, and often when the government has been unable to do so itself. The Myanmar authorities must immediately stop spreading misinformation and circulating unfounded and inflammatory accusations,” said Tirana Hassan.