Japan's government will grant Myanmar $3 million to assist in repatriating Rohingya Muslims to Rakhine state. A military crackdown has seen about 655,000 Rohingya Muslims flee to Bangladesh, with at least 6,700 deaths.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. Htet/Pool Photo via AP
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Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono on Friday urged Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi to safely repatriate Rohingya Muslims who have fled violence in Rakhine state, as the Japanese government pledged 330 million Japanese yen ($2.5 million; $3 million) to help facilitate the process.
During a meeting with Suu Kyi, Kono asked for her government to allow humanitarian and media access to the affected area, the resettlement of returned refugees and the implementation of recommendations made by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
He also said Japan planned to give further aid of $20 million to improve humanitarian conditions and development in Rakhine state.
Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an agreement on the repatriation of Rohingya refugees on November 23. Myanmar said it would start the process by January 23, but the exact numbers and extent of the repatriation is still unclear.
The military crackdown in the northern state of Rakhine has prompted about 655,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to bordering Bangladesh and claimed at least 6,700 lives since August.
Japan to monitor repatriation
"We have decided to provide the aid in response to the agreement between Myanmar and Bangladesh to represent an international message of support so that the repatriation can be carried out promptly," said Japanese Foreign Ministry official Shinobu Yamaguchi in a statement, stressing that Japan would monitor the repatriation.
"The money will be paid in a timely manner based on the progress of repatriation," he said.
The ministry said the grant was to "provide humanitarian assistance for rebuilding the living conditions, including provision of electricity generators, water purifiers, fuel and plastic containers” on the sites for resettlement of displaced Rohingya Muslims.
"This assistance is to contribute to the return and resettlement of the displaced persons assumed to reach up to the thousands or tens of thousands."
Rohingya children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned
The plight of the Rohingya Muslims forced to flee the atrocities committed by militants and the army in Myanmar is hard to stomach. The most vulnerable are children, as John Owens' photo series shows.
Image: DW/J. Owens
Shot and stabbed
Since August, more than 600,000 Rohingya have fled from Myanmar into Bangladesh. "The day the military came, they burnt down the village and shot my mother as she was trying to escape. My father couldn’t walk, so they stabbed him. I saw this with my own eyes," says 10-year-old Mohammed Belal who managed to run away from his village.
Image: DW/J. Owens
Haunted by the trauma
Mohammed’s sister Nur also watched the slaughter. She and her brother now live in a shelter for unaccompanied children in Bangladesh. She can play there and gets regular meals, a stark contrast to her journey from Myanmar where she and her brother nearly starved. But she is still haunted by the trauma of the recent weeks. "I miss my parents, my home, my country," she says.
Image: DW/J. Owens
Deep-rooted conflict
The conflict, which has been going on for 70 years and is rooted in the post-World War II social organization of the country, has claimed more than 2,000 victims since 2016, including the mother of 12-year-old Rahman, above. "They set fire to my home, and my mother was ill, so she could not leave," he says.
Image: DW/J. Owens
Save the children
Dilu-Aara, 5, came to the camp with her sister Rojina after she witnessed her parents being murdered by the military. "I was crying all the time and the bullets were flying over our heads. I escaped somehow." The international aid agency Save the Children is helping minors who come to Kutupalong without parents. Children make up to 60 percent of all Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
Image: DW/J. Owens
Hunted like animals
Jaded Alam is among the hundreds of kids who came to Kutupalong without parents. Fortunately, his aunt cares for him — and very well, he admits. Jaded grew up in a village called Mandi Para where he used to love playing football, but everything changed when the military attacked. "They told us to leave our home. When I was running with my parents, they shot them. They died on the spot," he says.
Image: DW/J. Owens
Child abductions
Not all families have been separated during their plight, however. Rahman Ali has been scouring the refugee camp for weeks now after his 10-year-old son Zifad disappeared. Rumors of child abductions have swirled around the camp for years, and Rahman fears his son has fallen prey to human traffickers. "I can't eat, I can’t sleep. I’m so upset! It’s like I’ve gone mad."
Image: DW/J. Owens
"My mind is not normal"
When the shooting started, Sokina Khatun did all she could to protect her children — but she couldn't save Yasmine,15, and Jamalita, 20, who were in a neighboring village at the time. "Their throats were cut in front of their grandparents," she says. "I was numb, I couldn’t feel the pain. Right now my mind is not normal," she says. She managed to rescue nine of her offspring.
Image: DW/J. Owens
Attacked, raped and robbed
Yasmine thinks she might be 15 but looks considerably younger. In her village, she used to play with marbles and run in the nearby fields, but different memories haunt her now: The attack by Myanmar forces, the beating and murder of her beloved father and brothers, and the rape by a group of Burmese soldiers who also robbed her. "I felt lots of pain in my body," she says.
In December, India said it would provide Myanmar with $25 million for development projects, including prefabricated houses in Rakhine state.
India is concerned about the influx of the refugees into its territory and has stressed the economic development of the Rakhine region as a way to help lower tensions.
The ministry said only 400 people have died in the conflict and that the violence started after a militant Rohingya group attacked police posts on August 25, prompting the crackdown by Myanmar troops.
It labeled the 400 dead as "extreme terrorists" who died during military "clearance operations."
