GENEVA: The United Nations (UN) has said it fears a repeat of the 2017 slaughters and brutalities committed against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, warning a human tragedy was unfolding in Rakhine State.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk voiced grave alarm regarding the sharply deteriorating situation across Myanmar, especially in Rakhine where, he stated, hundreds of civilians have reportedly been killed while attempting to flee violence.
Clashes have rocked Rakhine since the rebel Arakan Army assaulted troops of Myanmar’s ruling junta in November, ending a truce that had largely held since a military coup in 2021.
Turk accused both sides for abuses against the Rohingya including extrajudicial killings, kidnappings and indiscriminate bombardments of areas.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fled Rakhine in 2017 during a crackdown by the army that is now the subject of a UN genocide court case.
“Thousands of Rohingya have been enforced to flee on foot, with the Arakan Army herding them repeatedly into areas that offer scant safe haven,” Turk stated. The UN rights chief further said as the border crossings to Bangladesh remain closed, Rohingya Muslims are finding themselves trapped between the army and its allies and the Arakan Army, with no path to safety. Bangladesh is home to around one million Rohingya refugees, reports said.
This month marks seven years since the military brutal operations which drove over 700,000 across the border into Bangladesh. Despite the international community saying ‘never again’, we are once more witnessing murders, destruction and displacement in Rakhine,” said Turk.
