Rohingya being forcibly conscripted in battle between Myanmar and rebels

The Guardian
Kaamil Ahmed
Tue 14 May 2024 

Myanmar military has conscripted 1,000 Rohingya men and boys since February, with fears some are being used as human shields, according to NGOs

Rohingya passengers get off the train ahead of Sittwe, Rakhine state, as they are not allowed to disembark at the main station. The ethnic minority fear going out in case they are conscripted. Photograph: Riva Press

For more than four hours Abdullah* waited in the darkness as soldiers marched 30 of his neighbours from their homes in the Myanmar border state of Rakhine and forced them by gunpoint to join him on the truck that would take them all to a military base.

Six killed at refugee camp

THE Star

Sunday, 09 Jul 2023

SIX Rohingya refugees were killed in Bangladesh relief camp clashes that broke out hours after an International Criminal Court prosecutor visited the settlements to gather testimony.

Bangladesh is home to around a million members of the stateless minority, most of whom fled a 2017 military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar that is now subject to a genocide probe at the UN court.

This week’s violence was the latest in a series of deadly clashes between the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO), two rival insurgent groups operating in the camps.

Nearly 200 Rohingya refugees land in western Indonesia after swimming to shore from boat

South China Morning Post
Agence France-Presse
Published: 8:27pm, 27 Mar, 2023

• The refugees, trying to reach Malaysia from Myanmar, said they were dropped offshore and told to swim to land by the boat’s captain
• Thousands of the mostly Rohingya Muslims risk their lives each year on long and expensive sea journeys to reach Malaysia or Indonesia

Ethic Rohingya men rest inside a mosque that is turned into a temporary shelter after they land in Kuala Matang Peulawi, Aceh province, Indonesia on March 27, 2023. Photo: AP

At least 184 Rohingya refugees, including many women and children, landed in Indonesia’s westernmost province on Monday, officials said, after they were dropped at sea by boat and made to swim ashore.

Thousands of the mostly Rohingya Muslims, heavily persecuted in Myanmar, risk their lives each year on long and expensive sea journeys, often in poor-quality boats, in an attempt to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.

More countries will contribute to running Rohingya genocide case, Gambia hopes

The Finnacial Express
Published: February 12, 2023

Gambian Foreign Minister Dr Mamadou Tangara has expressed his hope that more countries will make contributions to Gambia regarding the Rohingya genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as the African nation has been facing a fund crisis to run the case.

"We need concrete action. Help us to make more noises so that their (Rohingyas) voices can be heard," he told reporters after holding a bilateral meeting with Bangladesh foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen at a state guesthouse in Dhaka on Sunday evening, reports BSS.

Marking the Fourth Anniversary of the Ethnic Cleansing in Rakhine State

Press Statement 

U.S State Department

Ned Price, Department Spokesperson
August 24, 2021

Four years ago, Burma’s military launched a horrific ethnic cleansing against Rohingya in northern Rakhine State. The brutality of the military’s atrocities on that day shocked the conscience of the international community – but we recognize the Rohingya had already suffered decades of grave human rights abuses, and that many of those abuses continue today. The United States remembers the victims and recommits to pursuing and demanding accountability for those responsible for these atrocities and other human rights abuses, and seeking justice for victims. We recognize the need to address the root causes of this violence and hold perpetrators accountable to help prevent such atrocities from recurring.

Rohingya: The most persecuted minority in the world

Global Village Space
Amani Shahan
January 31, 2020

The Rohingya have been named “the most persecuted minority in the world” by the United Nations, following a wave of atrocities unseen since genocides in Rwanda and former Yugoslavia. The author details the plight of Rohingya left unchecked. 

The Rohingya have been named “the most persecuted minority in the world” by the United Nations, following a wave of atrocities unseen since genocides in Rwanda and former Yugoslavia.

The Rohingya are an ethnic group, primarily Muslim (though a small number are Hindu) in majority-Buddhist Myanmar (formerly Burma). Although a small Muslim population has lived in what used to be Arakan State for centuries, the influx of Bengali Muslims during the British colonial rule tripled the country’s Muslim population.