40 dead, thousands of Muslims displaced in Myanmar
The death toll from sectarian violence caused by attacks from Buddhists to Rohingya Muslims has risen to 40 in Meikhtila, Myanmar's predominatly Buddhist town
World Bulletin/News Desk
President of Myanmar Thein Sein declared a state of emergency in the central part of the country as soldiers were deployed to the city of Meikhtila, where violence by Buddhist mobs against the Rohingya Muslim minority has led to the deaths of 40 people and the displacement of 12 thousand —mostly Muslims.
The latest unrest occurred last Wednesday in Meikhtila, 130 km (80 miles) north of the capital, and was sparked by an argument between a Buddhist couple, who wanted to sell fake gold to the Muslim owners of a gold shop that escalated into rioting in which 40 people died, official figures show.
5 mosques have been burned in the clashes in Meikhtila last week. 2 mosques and 50 houses were burned in the city of Yamethin.
State-run MRTV said on Sunday police had arrested 35 people in Meikhtila and two other townships in connection with the violence.
In one incident late on Saturday, Buddhist mobs torched more than 40 homes, 38 belonging to Muslims, in Ywadan village in Yamaethin township, said Soe Lwin, a local official. The village is 66 km (41 miles) south of Meikhtila.
"At about 8 p.m., around 100 people turned up shouting 'Let's burn it down, let's burn it down,' and started destroying our house first," said a 35-year-old shop owner in Ywadan, asking not to be named.
"It didn't look like they were outsiders. I think it's the people from this area," he said, speaking through the fence of a school where Muslims had taken refuge. "I could feel the way they looked at us had changed since Meikhtila happened."
Myanmar's Muslims account for an estimated four percent of the population of roughly 60 million, although the country has not conducted a census in three decades.
Myanmar's government is struggling to contain Buddhist violence against Muslims, that touched the outskirts of the capital, Naypyitaw, at the weekend and forced it to send troops to patrol the streets in the town where the recent trouble started.
Official figures say 110 people were killed and 120,000 were left homeless, most of them Rohingya Muslims.
Police were criticised in the media and by local people for making little effort to halt the violence as ethnic Burmese Buddhists including monks stalked the streets armed with swords and knives.
Tension was high in certain parts of Yangon, the former capital and Myanmar's biggest city. Police were stationed outside mosques on Sunday evening.
"Buddhist monks hunting Muslims"
A press release by Arakan Rohingya Union (ARU) on March 23, the largest organization representing the Rohingya Muslims, stated "Since Wednesday March 20, many Muslims were killed, at least 14 mosques with hundreds of Muslim homes were destroyed, shops damaged and looted, and more than 20,000 displaced in Meiktila and around the airport area of capital Naypyidaw.
A lot of Muslim residents have fled their homes. Extremist Buddhist mobs with Buddhist monks armed with sticks and lethal weapons are prowling the streets and hunting the Muslims."
A press release by Arakan Rohingya Union (ARU) on March 23, the largest organization representing the Rohingya Muslims, stated "Since Wednesday March 20, many Muslims were killed, at least 14 mosques with hundreds of Muslim homes were destroyed, shops damaged and looted, and more than 20,000 displaced in Meiktila and around the airport area of capital Naypyidaw.
A lot of Muslim residents have fled their homes. Extremist Buddhist mobs with Buddhist monks armed with sticks and lethal weapons are prowling the streets and hunting the Muslims."
No Aid and Poor Conditions
Thousands of displaced persons say they are not receiving official aid because they are not recognized by the government, according to IRIN.
Shafi Ul Alam, an imam at the Maw Thanu Ya site, an unofficial camp that has been home to more than 1,000 Rohingya internally displaced persons (IDPs) since October, says residents have received no food or shelter from the government or NGOs.
Government numbers indicate there are over 120,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Rakhine living in almost 90 camps. But it is unclear how many IDPs are actually unregistered, aid workers say.
The government gave permission for the displaced to seek refuge in buffered safe zones, but it has restricted the number of such sites it will sanction, leaving many Muslim IDPs with unofficial status, aid workers say. The designation comes with severe consequences: unregistered IDPs receive little to none of the government or international assistance that is delivered to official camps. IDPs are restricted from travelling to work in nearby towns. They are also without supplies or space for farming.
Unlike in official camps, where residents are supplied with waterproof tents, residents of Maw Thanu Ya sleep in tiny huts constructed of thatched straw.
These poor conditions are taking an evident toll. International aid groups have reported high cases of respiratory and skin infections, worms and diarrhoea, as well as "alarming" rates of malnourished children in camps they have visited. Many infants in Maw Thanu Yaw have distended bellies as well as sores and rashes on their skin.
Aid workers say the prevalence of these health problems among the unregistered displaced, whom they are largely prohibited from visiting, is likely considerably higher.
Muslims represent about four percent of Myanmar-s population. The flare-up of violence is the biggest conflict since Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims clashed in Arakan (Rakhine) state last year, leaving at least 200 people dead and more than 110,000 homeless, with many fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh.
The latest bloodshed shows that violence against Muslims has spread from Rakhine to the other parts of Myanmar.
About one third of the population is comprised of ethnic minorities that practise Chistianity or animism, and most have waged wars against the government to get autonomy.
The latest bloodshed shows that violence against Muslims has spread from Rakhine to the other parts of Myanmar.
About one third of the population is comprised of ethnic minorities that practise Chistianity or animism, and most have waged wars against the government to get autonomy.
__._,_.___
| Reply via web post | Reply to sender | Reply to group | Start a New Topic | Messages in this topic (1) |
Free download [Internet Explorer/Firefox]:
Hidayahnet Toolbar [no virus, adware, malware etc]
http://hidayahnet.ourtoolbar.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
**Boycott Israel**Support Palestine**
All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of Hidayahnet unless sanctioned or approved otherwise.
If your mailbox clogged with mails from Hidayahnet, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at hidayahnet-owner@yahoogroups.com with the title "change to daily digest".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Affiliates:
iPerintis - eGroup untuk Saintis dan Jurutera Muslim
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iperintis/
Recommended sites:
Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia : http://www.abim.org.my
Ikram Malaysia : http://www.ikram.org.my
Palestinkini Info : http://www.palestinkini.info
Partai Keadilan Sejahtera : http://pk-sejahtera.org
Fiqh Siber : http://al-ahkam.net/
The Muslim Brotherhood : http://ikhwanweb.com
Hidayahnet website : http://hidayahnet.multiply.com/
Hidayahnet Toolbar [no virus, adware, malware etc]
http://hidayahnet.ourtoolbar.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
**Boycott Israel**Support Palestine**
All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of Hidayahnet unless sanctioned or approved otherwise.
If your mailbox clogged with mails from Hidayahnet, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at hidayahnet-owner@yahoogroups.com with the title "change to daily digest".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Affiliates:
iPerintis - eGroup untuk Saintis dan Jurutera Muslim
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iperintis/
Recommended sites:
Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia : http://www.abim.org.my
Ikram Malaysia : http://www.ikram.org.my
Palestinkini Info : http://www.palestinkini.info
Partai Keadilan Sejahtera : http://pk-sejahtera.org
Fiqh Siber : http://al-ahkam.net/
The Muslim Brotherhood : http://ikhwanweb.com
Hidayahnet website : http://hidayahnet.multiply.com/
.
__,_._,___
No comments:
Post a Comment