The Rohingya are currently being targeted by the fourth wave of ethnic cleansing against them in the past five years.
This new report, ‘I Thought I Would Die’ presents evidence of violations of international law being perpetrated against the Rohingya, including attacks on children, indiscriminate use of landmines, random firing on fleeing villagers and the use of rape. These accounts add to a growing body of evidence which points the finger squarely at the Myanmar security forces.
The sheer frequency and acuity of this kind of abuse against the Rohingya, committed against the backdrop of chronic and decades-old state persecution, point to an ongoing strategy of “systemic weakening” of the ethnic Rohingya community as a whole, which has been argued to be a precursor stage to full-blown genocide.
Since the latest bout of violence against Myanmar’s ethnic Rohingya minority erupted into life on 25th August 2017, the government and military wings of Myanmar’s hybrid government have fallen back on tried and tested narratives of denial. This reports provides evidence to prove that the government and military are lying about the current situation.
The report also proposes practical steps the government of Myanmar and the international community should take to stop the violence and address the root causes.
“The evidence of violations of international law against the Rohingya is overwhelming, now we need to see action to hold those responsible to account and end the policies of repression” said Tun Khin, President of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK. “The government and military have been lying to the people of Myanmar and the international community, but they can’t hide from the truth forever.”