Restless Beings

Reported from Maung Ni Village this morning by (Anonymous), a victim who escaped the terrible incident by a close shave.

A joint group of Police, Lun-Htin (Security Forces), Sa-Ra-Pha (State Affairs Security) and local Rakhine thugs raided Maung Ni Village of Maung Daw, Arakan, Burma this morning during dawn raids whilst many were still sleeping. Arriving to the Rohingya majority village armed with weapons, almost every man from the village was rounded up and hurled onto four large trucks. Many resisted, unwilling to leave behind their wives and children and as such received heavy beatings by the local thugs and armed militia. A local man said ‘blood was dripping like rain all along the way from the trucks on which Rohingya men were taken away.’ The men have been taken to an unknown location and this is not the first such occasion of reports of men being taken away to concentration camps. According to the people in Arakan, the authorities have plans to do more such barbaric killings in other villages too.

In a separate incident, it was reported that 4 young women were taken away from their families by Rakhine thugs with their hair being shaved and virginity taken away by gang rape. This report still remains unverified, but we are receiving such news almost every few hours and the mere fact that it has been reported so often suggests that this is a problem which is endemic in Arakan right now.

A state of emergency still remains in place and whilst a meeting was planned between the premieres of Bangladesh and Burma next week, President Thein Sein has cancelled this until August. 25 men women and children have also been detained this afternoon in Teknaf by Bangladesh Border Security who were trying to flee increasing persecution. With all NGO staff and international observers out of Arakan now, it seems that the Rohingya are facing increasing violence with decreasing reports coming out to the international community.

We are asking the British Government to raise this issue with Burma or end economic ties with the country which continues its flagrant abuse of human rights and continues its programme of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya. Please help us and share the petition with your contacts.