Suspicious Military Activities in Myanmar… and the UN warns of Near “Mass Atrocities”

Myanmar is witnessing major military activities that caused monitors of the situation of Rhingya Muslims to be concerned.

Major activities included moving tens of thousands of soldiers, heave weaponry, armours and military vehicles, to the north and northwest regions of the country, near the region where Rohingya Muslims reside.

Myanmar forces, or “Junta” as they are known in Myanmar, are controlled by Buddhist extremists, known for their extreme hostility towards the Muslims of the Rohingya minority, which was victim to  repeated atrocities amount to war crimes.

The United Nations warns!

“These tactics are ominously reminiscent of those employed by the military before its genocidal attacks against the Rohingya,”

With these words the  UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Thomas H. Andrews, warned of near “mass atrocities”, during his remarks to the UN General Assembly in Oct. 22nd 2021.

In his remarks Andrews reported: ” since the February coup, the Myanmar military has engaged in probable crimes against humanity and war crimes, with:

• Over 1100 killed.
• More than a quarter million displaced.
• Over 8,000 arbitrarily detained with many tortured, including children.”

Then he added: ” Unfortunately, we are very likely on the eve of yet another catastrophe, including a significant loss of innocent life and an even greater number of human rights violations, I have received credible information that the junta has been moving tens of thousands of troops, heavy weaponry, and other military assets into the north and northwest regions of the country.”

He also called upon the United Nations to take actions to prevent another humanitarian crisis, by pressuring Myanmar forces and cut off all means to support them, including money, weapons and legitimacy. In addition to increasing humanitarian aid to the people of Myanmar, especially the Rohingya Muslims.

Genocides and War Crimes

Over the past decades, the Muslim minority in Myanmar have suffered from extreme violations of human rights on the hands of Junta forces and Buddhist extremists, some of which amount to war crimes,

In October 2016, several attacks on security stations occurred, and the perpetrators fled. However,  Myanmar forces blames Muslim civilian residents in Arakan and launched an attack on them, which resulted in killing over 400 civilians, arson of 1500 homes and 65000 fleeing to Bangladesh. Reports have also confirmed that hundreds of women were victims of mass rapes.

In August 2017, Myanmar launched yet another attack, more fierce than the first one, burning thousands of homes with their residents in them and random shootings which resulted in the murder of nearly 7000 Rohingya Muslims, including hundreds of children and the displacement of 650 thousands who fled to Bangladesh.

in addition to that, Rohingya are forced to endure sporadic attacks by Buddhist extremists from near by villages, under the protection and observation of the military.

Who are the Rohingya?

Rohingya are one of Myanmar”s (previosuly known as “Burma”) ethnicities. All of the Rohingya emrace the religion of Islam.

The word “Rohingya” or “Rohang” is the previous name of the state of Arakan (currently known as “Rakhin State”) when it was an Islamic kingdom, and it is used in reference to the Indigenous Peoples of Arakan.

The population of Rohingya Muslims is estimated to be over 1 million. More than half of them are living as refugees in Bangladesh and other countries.