Perilous voyages ... boats carrying Rohingya Muslims
from Burma are intercepted by coast guard officials while trying to
cross to Bangladesh earlier this year. Photo: AFP
At least 130 refugees fleeing violence in western Burma are
believed to have drowned when an overcrowded fishing boat capsized and
sank. Six survivors were rescued by local fishermen, local activists
said.
The reported shipwreck is the single most lethal incident
linked to the clashes between the Muslim Rohingya minority and Rakhine
Buddhists in Burma's Arakan state. The death toll had reached 80 in the
last 11 days, according to official estimates. Thousands of homes have
been destroyed, along with places of worship.
Rohingya campaigners on the Bangladeshi side of the border said they had seen boats full of refugees offshore which were unable to land despite running low on water and food.
Details of the wreck are unclear.
On Wednesday a stand-off continued on Ramree Island, close to
the epicentre of recent clashes, as security forces attempted to
protect Rohingya villages from crowds of Rakhine.
Many had been forced to leave their homes in the town of
Kyauk Ni Maw, where the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman, allegedly
by Muslims, in May sparked the sectarian violence that engulfed much of
the state the following month.
Hundreds have taken to boats or sought refuge on unpopulated coastal islands over recent days, refugee sources said.
Neighbouring Bangladesh, which already has an estimated
300,000 Rohingya refugees, has controversially closed its border, an act
which activists claim violates international law.
Rohingya campaigners on the Bangladeshi side of the border
said they had seen boats full of refugees offshore which were unable to
land despite running low on water and food.
There are fears the latest tragedy could fuel further
communal violence, which itself threatens to jeopardise the reform
process in Burma. Last week the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban
Ki-Moon, said "the vigilante attacks, targeted threats and extremist
rhetoric must be stopped [or] . . . the opening up process being
currently pursued by the government is likely to be jeopardised."
The crisis has also posed a challenge to the Nobel laureate
and pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been criticised
for failing to speak out strongly enough on the issue. Her National
League for Democracy party has remained silent since releasing a brief
statement on October 24.
"[Aung San Suu Kyi] has an obligation to do something about
the crisis but for some time she has been silent," said Abu Tahay, a
Rohingya politician in Rangoon, the country's commercial and cultural
capital.
A first round of violence in June led to 75,000 people,
mainly Muslim, fleeing their homes. The clashes over the past 10 days
have forced nearly 30,000 more from their villages, the United Nations
says. The vast majority are Rohingya, who are not recognised as citizens
of Burma and suffer widespread discrimination. Ethnic Rakhine
communities have also suffered.
"I am very worried about the coming weeks. The situation is
very unstable. In five minutes the violence could be everywhere," Mr Abu
Tahay said.
Thousands of Rohingya try to leave Burma by boat every year. Many vessels are unseaworthy and every year several sink.
Chris Lewa, an activist who tracks the ships, said that about
7000 made the journey from Burma to Malaysia, often via Thailand,
during the 2010-11 sailing season.
"They are often loaded out to sea and, though some are in better condition than others, they are all packed," she said.
Refugees pay between $1700 and $2000 for a place but usually put down a $400 deposit.
Experts say the crisis in Rakhine is rooted in ethnic and
religious tensions that were suppressed during nearly 50 years of brutal
military rule.
Hand grenades were thrown on Sunday night at two mosques in
Karen state in the east of the country, causing no casualties, domestic
media reported.
Some of those now fleeing their homes were Burmese Muslims from the officially recognised Kaman minority.
"It's the first time that we've seen the Kaman targeted.
That's very worrying," said Mabrur Ahmed, of Restless Beings, a human
rights group based in Britain.
The UN estimates there are 800,000 Rohingya in Burma.
Although many have lived in the country for generations, they are
considered illegal immigrants and face widespread hostility.
In June President Thein Sein suggested the best solution to
the violence was that the United Nations resettle the Rohingya outside
Burma.
Guardian News & Media
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