Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar face genocide threats more than ever before: Report

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar face genocide threats more than ever before, an Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar said on Monday.

“The threat of genocide continues for the remaining Rohingya”, said Marzuki Darusman, Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission.

Genocidal intent on the part of the State in its “clearances operations” of 2016 and 2017 has “strengthened” and there is a “serious risk” that genocidal actions may “occur” or “recur”, the report added.

The chair further added that the “clearance operations” had killed thousands and caused 740,000 Rohingyas to flee for their lives.

Myanmar continues to “harbour genocidal intent” and commit “crimes against humanity” that inflict great suffering and persecution of the Rohingya population,” the report added.

It also found that the movement restrictions, applied to the Rohingya touch almost every aspect of the lives of the 600,000 Rohingya remaining in Rakhine State, affecting basic economic, social and cultural rights, including their ability to sustain themselves, obtain an education, seek medical assistance or even pray and congregate.

Killings, rapes and gang rapes, torture, forced displacement and other grave human rights violations by Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) and other government authorities that the Mission documented in its 2018 report were still present.

The Tatmadaw and ethnic Rakhine villagers also denied Rohingya people food by deliberately killing or confiscating livestock, including cattle, goats and chickens, without permission or payment, depriving Rohingya both of food and of income-generating opportunities.

The military would hunt chickens with slingshots. “They would often come to the village, search houses for food and steal anything they could find,” the report quoted an interviewee adding that this was in addition to the requirement for Rohingya to register their cattle, sheep, goats, chicken and other animals with the authorities.

The military also reportedly leases out farmlands, formerly owned and cultivated by Rohingya, to local members of the ethnic Rakhine communities.

“The military and ethnic Rakhine occupied most of our lands and residents were ordered not to cultivate their lands…residents were starving and were on the brink of famine,” the report quoted a Rohingya from Buthidaung Township.

World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are only organisations allowed access to distribute aid.

Distribution of humanitarian aid was not regular. The amount of relief materials was not sufficient for a family. Sometimes, villagers would receive aid once a month and sometimes once every 2 or 3 months,” the report quoted other Rohingya from Buthidaung.

The Mission concluded on reasonable grounds that the situation of the 600,000 Rohingya remaining in Myanmar is “worse” after another year of living under deplorable conditions.

Myanmar has failed in its obligations under the Genocide Convention to “investigate” and, where appropriate, “prosecute genocide”. It has also been unsuccessful to enact “effective legislation criminalising and punishing genocide”.

“Conditions in Myanmar are unsafe, unsustainable and impossible for approximately “one million displaced Rohingya to return” to their homes and lands,” the report added.