Ethnic cleansing in Rakhine continues

A senior UN human rights official said on Tuesday the ethnic cleansing of Rohingyas in Myanmar continues, reports UNB.

"The government of Myanmar is busy telling the world that it's ready to receive Rohingya returnees, while at the same time its forces are continuing to drive them into Bangladesh," the official said.

Andrew Gilmour, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, made the comments in a statement after a four-day visit to Cox's Bazar.

During his visit, he met people who have fled from Myanmar recently.

He said, "I don't think we can draw any other conclusion from what I've seen and heard in Cox's Bazar."

The rate of killings and sexual violence in Rakhine has subsided since August and September last year, according to his statement the news agency received from Bangkok.

Recently arrived Rohingya interviewed by Gilmour and other UN officials in Cox's Bazar provided credible accounts of continued killings, rape, torture, and abductions, as well as forced starvation.

"It appears that widespread and systematic violence against the Rohingyas persists," Gilmour said.

"The nature of the violence has changed from the frenzied bloodletting and mass rape of last year to a lower intensity campaign of terror and forced starvation that seems to be designed to drive the remaining Rohingyas from their homes into Bangladesh."

A number of people told Gilmour that Rohingyas who try to leave their villages or even their homes are taken away and never return.

One man told how his father was abducted by the Myanmar military in February. He was instructed a few days later to collect the body.

He recounted that he was too afraid to ask the military what had happened to his father, but that the corpse was covered in bruises.

Another man described being tied up by Border Guard Police in his own home in January as his 17-year-old daughter was abducted.

When he screamed, they pointed a gun at his head and kicked him repeatedly. As he later tried to find her, he was picked up by them and badly beaten again, this time with the butts of guns.

His daughter has not been seen since 15 January. This is a recurring theme -- of women and girls abducted, never to be seen again. Their relatives fear the worst -- that they were raped and killed.

"Safe, dignified and sustainable returns are of course impossible under current conditions. The conversation now must focus on stopping the violence in Rakhine State, ensuring accountability for the perpetrators, and the need for Myanmar to create conditions for return," said the senior UN official.

After meeting with Bangladeshi officials, UN agencies and non-governmental organisations involved in the humanitarian response in Cox's Bazar, he raised alarm at the prospect of the loss of life in the camps due to the imminent rains.