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Special Briefer- Deepening Genocide: Junta Repression of Rohingya After the Attempted coup

December 13th, 2023  •  Author:   ALTSEAN-Burma , Rohingya Maìyafuìnor Collaborative Network  •  2 minute read
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  • The illegal junta’s forced repatriation efforts have put Rohingya, already subjected to genocide and considered one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, at risk of returning to further violence and abuse in Burma.
  • Since the Feb 2021 attempted coup, the illegal junta has increased surveillance, arbitrary detention, and mobility restrictions of Rohingya. It has arbitrarily detained at least 3,841 Rohingya, including children, simply for “travelling without official permission”.
  • The junta’s weaponization of aid and starvation has disproportionate impacts on the Rohingya, driving up malnutrition rates and causing the Rohingya to be the hardest hit by Cyclone Mocha (May 2023). Months later, the junta continues to block aid to cyclone survivors.
  • Legal frameworks such as the 1948 Union Citizenship Act and 1982 Citizenship Law continue to deny Rohingya citizenship and reject their legitimate claims to indigeneity.
  • Rohingya women and girls are worst affected by junta impunity and experience shocking levels of sexual and gender-based violence, including murder.
  • Junta repatriation efforts and dire conditions in camps are forcing thousands of Rohingya to flee once again. In Nov 2023 alone, more than 1,000 Rohingya reached Indonesia from Cox’s Bazar.
  • Women and children are fleeing camps in growing numbers. More than 50% of recent arrivals by boat in Indonesia were women and children. Nearly 20% of new arrivals were unaccompanied children.
  • Many neighboring countries, including several in ASEAN, prolong the impacts of the genocide by criminalizing, detaining, and deporting Rohingya.
  • While several judicial initiatives have begun in the quest for justice for the Rohingya, and while the National Unity Government (NUG) have made commitments to recognize and support them, much more needs to be done to restore their citizenship and rights.
  • The attempted coup and the ongoing violence and persecution of the Rohingya and all other peoples of Burma/Myanmar are now the single largest obstacle to a sustainable solution. The failure to halt impunity in Burma/Myanmar will condemn the Rohingya to an ongoing cycle of violence and displacement, with serious repercussions for the region.
  • A rights-based and multi-stakeholder framework which ensures the safe and dignified return of Rohingya is needed before informed and voluntary repatriation can commence.
  • Any solution must begin by ensuring recognition of Rohingya indigeneity in Arakan state as a collective group entitled to social, economic, political, cultural and linguistic rights.

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