Myanmar's treatment of Rohingyas called 'apartheid' in new report
21 Nov 2017 5:06 PM GMT
BANGKOK: Myanmar has subjected Rohingya Muslims to long-term discrimination and persecution that amounts to "dehumanizing apartheid,'' Amnesty International said Tuesday in a report that raises questions about what those who have fled a violent military crackdown would face if they returned home.
Since late August, more than 620,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar's Rakhine state into neighboring Bangladesh, seeking safety from what the military described as ``clearance operations.'' The United Nations and others have said the military's actions appeared to be a campaign of ``ethnic cleansing,'' using acts of violence and intimidation and burning down homes to force the Rohingya to leave their communities.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said earlier this month that the world body considered it ``an absolutely essential priority'' to stop all violence against the Rohingya and allow them to return to their homes. They are now living in teeming refugee camps in a Bangladesh border district, and officials in Dhaka have also urged that Myanmar allow them to return with their safety assured. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Tuesday the government would follow a formula set in a 1992-93 repatriation agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar.
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