Myanmar army unleashed unprecedented brutality

MSF survey on violence against Rohingyas

FE Report | Published: March 10, 2018 22:35:46

At least 9,400 Rohingyas, including 1,000 children, died in the first month of the "clearance operations" launched by the Myanmar Army in Rakhine state in the early hours of August 25 last year, according to a report released by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International on Saturday.
The report titled 'No One Left' presents a vivid account of the unprecedented brutality unleashed by the Myanmar security forces against the unarmed Rohingyas, forcing around 1.0 million to flee their homes.
The MSF surveys are representative of 503,698 Rohingyas. In November 2017, MSF conducted a total of six health surveys in Cox's Bazar district which aimed at quantifying the current scale of the emergency by assessing factors, including levels of mortality over time.
The number of estimated deaths is between 9,425 and 13,759, and for children under five between 1,008 and 2,896. Of these, between 6,759 and 9,867 deaths were due to violence, including 734 to 2,109 children under the age of five, said the report.
The MSF findings show that the Rohingyas have been targeted, and are the clearest indication yet of the widespread violence that started on 25 August.
MSF also routinely collected accounts by Refugees who recently arrived in Bangladesh to better understand the circumstances of their flight and the patterns of violence to which they have been exposed.
At least 730 children under the age of five are estimated to have been killed. While the speed and scale of displacement alerted the international community to the severity of events, MSF mortality data indicates that violence reached an unprecedented level in the month following 25 August 2017.
This contrasts sharply with official statements from the Myanmar authorities denying any wrongdoing in Rakhine State, and underestimating casualties caused by the so-called clearance operations.
Injuries treated by MSF staff, accounts from newly arrived refugees and results from MSF health surveys all point to the excessive use of force by Myanmar security forces, by groups affiliated to the security forces and by Rakhine mobs, and to the widespread use of violence against the Rohingya population.
This violent persecution has resulted in high mortality amongst the Rohingya population in Myanmar, and has led to the forced displacement of those who survived it.
The survey results are complemented by the qualitative analysis of testimonies routinely collected by MSF since August, including accounts by MSF patients and their caretakers.
Medical data from MSF's Kutupalong clinic, as well as accounts by patients told to MSF doctors, nurses and midwives, are also included in this report to corroborate findings by direct medical observations.
Mortality was more than 13 times higher between 25 August and 24 September than between 27 May and 24 August.
Mortality related to violence from 25 August onwards emphasises the excessive use of force against the Rohingya population in Rakhine State, with 71.7 per cent of the total deaths reported between 25 August and 24 September caused by violence.
There was a spike in violent deaths in the 10 days following 25 August when 43.8 per cent of the total reported deaths occurred.
The main cause of violence-related deaths reported by the recently displaced population between 25 August and 24 September was gunshots.
Other types of violence resulting in death were sexual violence (2.6 per cent) and landmines (1.0 per cent). A further 12.3 per cent of violence-related deaths were due to "other" causes, a majority of which were identified by surveyed refugees in Kutupalong and Balukhali as "killed by military", with no further information provided by respondents.
In Balukhali 2 and Tasnimarkhola, surveyed refugees also mentioned death by "cutting the throat".
Refugees who gave their testimonies to MSF talked chiefly about the large number of deaths and described how people had been killed. References to slaughtering were numerous as well as to mass killings.
"They killed my husband and children. Around 60 people died in this attack. Many people were slaughtered. After this the military put them in a big hole in the ground," said a female from Sain Dee Prang, Buthidaung Township, on November 26 last year.
Accounts from MSF patients and other refugees confirm the ferocity of the crackdown, especially during the first weeks. They describe similar patterns, including house raids, arson, widespread use of violence like sexual violence, an excessive use of force, extrajudicial executions, random shootings, and indiscriminate killings of villagers.
A female from Buthidaung Township said, "The military is burning houses and mosques. They burned my house with my infant child in it. I don't know if there are still people in my village."
Testimonies from newly arrived refugees corroborate the fact that violence, including indiscriminate killings of villagers, continued throughout October and November in various locations across Rakhine State.
Many refugees reported seeing dead bodies on their journey to the border, sometimes dozens of them. These reports were most common amongst refugees from Buthidaung Township; this could be explained by the length of their journey to the Bangladeshi border, which takes at least seven days on foot.
"For four days long we walked across hills, fields and rivers. We walked through many villages that were burned down. No one was left. There were dead bodies along the way and the children were scared. We had to walk in front of them to keep them away from the bodies," a male from Nua Para, Buthidaung Township, told the MSF on October 29, 2017.
On October22, 2017, a female from Kwan Thi Pin, Maungdaw Township, said: "The military would come every 15 days. Sometimes they would enter the houses and beat the men and rape girls. Previously they only came in the village to take beautiful girls. Now they rape everyone, old women and young girls. They tortured us."
When asked more precisely if they wanted to stay in Bangladesh for the long term, most respondents declared their intention to stay. Most said this was due to Bangladesh being safer than Myanmar while some stated that it was better for them or did not offer a clear reason for their preference.
Some refugees said that they had nothing left in Myanmar - with most citing destroyed properties, having no place to return to, or that their relatives were all dead.
A minority was adamant that they could never return, mainly citing feelings of loss and mourning: "I have lost everything so why would I go back?"; "If I need to, I will die here, but not in Myanmar".
Certain prerequisites were mentioned as conditions for returning to Myanmar. These included the need for their Rohingya identity or citizenship to be in place or recognised; the need for their rights and freedoms to be in place; for peace to be restored; for justice to be upheld; for "demands to be accepted"; and the need to "find a solution to their problems".
"We came here after lots of pain, please don't force us to go back there without any justice being done," they said.
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