The office of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi has said the military has formally ended its counterinsurgency operations in Rakhine. The announcement follows a UN report accusing troops of mass killings and gang rapes.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/Soe Than Win
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Myanmar's military has ended its counterinsurgency operations in the troubled Rakhine State, government officials said on Thursday.
The military operation in the Bangladeshi border region began in early October after insurgents killed nine police officers. Since then, the UN estimated that more than 1,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed, around 70,000 have fled across the border into Bangladesh, and another 20,000 are believed to be internally displaced.
In a statement issued by the office of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's newly appointed national security advisor, Thaung Tan, was quoted of saying that the situation in the country's western region "is now stabilized."
"The clearance operations by the military have ceased, the curfew has been eased and there remains only a police presence to maintain the peace," Tan said.
Forgotten refugees: Rohingyas make a home in Bangladesh
More than 70,000 Rohingyas have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh since a crackdown began in October 2016. In total there are almost half a million such refugees in Bangladesh. They live in crowded camps such as Kutupalong.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/T. Chowdhury
Fleeing Myanmar
In October 2016, a Rohingya group was accused of killing nine policemen in Myanmar. Since then, the Muslim minority has been under attack in the mostly Buddhist country again. More than 70,000 Rohingyas have fled across the border to Bangladesh. One of the camps they live in is Kutupalong, in the southern Cox's Bazar district.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/T. Chowdhury
Self-reliance required
Rohingyas might be safe from Myanmar's military here, but life in the Kutupalong camp is anything but easy. There is no real infrastructure and only makeshift housing set up by the refugees themselves. They fled Myanmar because the military torched their homes and raped and killed hundreds of people, according to human rights organizations.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/T. Chowdhury
No child's play
There's no running water in most parts of the camp and not much to do for the thousands of refugee children. This girl is picking up mud from one of the camp's lakes.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/T. Chowdhury
Living in shacks
Mud and other basic materials are used by to build houses in the camp so residents at least have roofs over their heads.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/T. Chowdhury
Long history of conflict
In Myanmar, Rohingyas have been discriminated against since before the country's independence from Britain in 1948. The group continues to be denied citizenship and voting rights.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/T. Chowdhury
Chased away yet again?
Rohingya also experience discrimination in Bangladesh, where the government has turned away boats with hundreds of refugees because it claims that the camps are already overcrowded. Now, Bangladesh's government is planning to relocate Rohingyas to a remote island that is mostly flooded during monsoon season.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/T. Chowdhury
Deserted on an island
The island of Thengar Char, where Bangladesh's government wants to settle Rohingyas, is miles away from the mainland, can only be reached by boat and has been raided by pirates before. An NGO coordinator helping Rohingyas once told DW that there would be few opportunities to make a living on Thengar Char.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/T. Chowdhury
Bad track record
Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali has acknowledged that there is still a lot of work to be done on Thengar Char. "'The relocation will take place only after the development activities are completed,'' he has said. But the government hasn't done much to improve the Kutupalong camp either, and residents have to take care of everything themselves.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/T. Chowdhury
Erased from history
The lack of a safe homeland leaves Rohingyas with an uncertain future as Myanmar works to erase their past. The Culture and Religious Affairs Ministry plans to release a history textbook with no mention whatsoever of the Muslim minority. "The real truth is that the word 'Rohingya' was never used or existed as an ethnicity or race in Myanmar's history," the ministry claimed in December 2016.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/T. Chowdhury
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Damning UN allegations
The government has so far denied reports of abuses. However, a UN reports published this month details harrowing instances of mass killings and sexual assault, based on accounts from refugees and escapees. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday that he "was horrified" by the reports of sexual abuses carried out by security forces.
"We have shown that we are ready to act when there is clear evidence of abuses," Tun said in the statement.
Police to remain in Rakhine
A spokesman for the office of President Htin Kyaw announced in a separate statement Thursday that police forces would remain stationed in the region for security reasons.
"Halting the military operation doesn't really mean we won't have our security forces there," he said.
The state-backed probe raises doubts over impartiality; a Myanmar presidential spokesman said the latest military figures estimated that fewer than 100 civilians had been killed in the counterinsurgency operation.
UN urges resettlement of Rohingya
The UN's refugee agency on Thursday said it has asked Bangladeshi authorities to allow it negotiate a resettlement deal with the United States, Canada and some European countries for around 1,000 Rohingya Muslims living in the South Asian nation.
Kubo said that 1,000 Rohingya refugees had been identified as priorities for resettlement on medical grounds or because they had been separated from family.
"Regardless of the change in government or government policies, I think UNHCR has a clear responsibility to pursue a protection-oriented resettlement program," Kubo told the Reuters news agency on Thursday.
"Resettlement will always be a challenging thing because only a small number of resettlement opportunities are being allocated by the international community at the moment. But it's our job to try to consult with respective countries based on the protection and humanitarian needs of these individuals."
