Mizzima-Apr 23
The UN Human Rights (OCHR) Chief Volker Türk warned that intensified fighting in Rakhine State between the junta and the Arakan Army (AA), alongside tensions being fueled between the Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine communities, pose a grave threat to the civilian population. In his warning, made on 19 April 2024, Mr. Turk said that there is a grave risk that it will lead to past atrocities being repeated. Since the year-long informal ceasefire between the two sides broke down last November, 15 of Rakhine’s 17 townships have been affected by fighting, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries, and taking the number of displaced to well over 300,000. “Rakhine State has once again become a battleground involving multiple actors, and civilians are paying a heavy price, with Rohingya at particular risk,” the High Commissioner said. “What is particularly disturbing is that whereas in 2017, the Rohingya were targeted by one group, they are now trapped between two armed factions who have a track record of killing them. We must not allow the Rohingya to be targeted again.” “Facing defeat, the military has outrageously started to forcibly conscript, bribe and coerce Rohingya into joining their ranks. It is unconscionable that they should be targeted in this way, given the appalling events of six years ago, and the ongoing extreme discrimination against the Rohingya including the denial of citizenship,” Türk said. “The alarm bells are ringing, and we must not allow there to be a repeat of the past,” Türk said. Read more at: https://eng.mizzima.com/2024/04/23/9246#google_vignette
