Rakhine violence fuels fear among Rohingya Muslims in Yangon скачать в хорошем качестве

Rakhine violence fuels fear among Rohingya Muslims in Yangon

(12 Feb 2018) Rohingya Muslims in Yangon are feeling increasingly discriminated and persecuted in the aftermath of last year's violence in Rakhine state, where bloody military operations that followed Rohingya militant attacks in August have driven nearly 700,000 Rohingya into refugee camps in Bangladesh. They have described a sense of rising persecution and hatred, of vanishing freedoms and opportunities, and of Buddhist neighbours and friends suddenly more willing to publicly express sympathies with the military's destruction of Rohingya villages in Rakhine. Although Yangon's tree-lined boulevards and weathered colonial architecture seem a world away from the rice paddies and isolated villages of Rakhine in Myanmar's far west, the government is increasingly linking Rohingya across the country with what it calls a terrorist threat. Though they've always been persecuted, it got much worse for Rohingya after 2012, when violence in Rakhine killed hundreds and drove about 140,000 people, most of them Rohingya, from their homes to camps. Violence flared again in 2016 and, most dramatically, following the August attacks, when refugees reported widespread killing and rape by Myanmar forces. The Associated Press last month confirmed, through extensive interviews with survivors and time-stamped video, a massacre and at least five mass graves, all previously unreported, in the Rakhine village of Gu Dar Pyin. Many Rohingya have been in Myanmar for generations, but, increasingly, the government and media have portrayed them not as citizens but as "illegal Bengali interlopers" who entered Myanmar from Bangladesh with the help of corrupt immigration officers. Hate speech has risen, and Buddhists who were once friends and colleagues now shun Muslims. There are non-Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, and they often report rising discrimination, especially those in Rakhine.   But generally their situation is less precarious than the Rohingya. Kyaw Min, a well-known Rohingya activist and president of the Democracy and Human Rights Party, says that the government is trying to make it so that nearly every Rohingya family in Rakhine state will be associated with an accused terrorist if the refugees in Bangladesh ever return to Myanmar. Safety is a worry, even in Yangon. He says he no longer leaves his home at night or travels alone around the city. Some party members have been attacked, and he has suffered intense abuse on social media, with people calling him "rubbish" and an "interloper from Bangladesh". Early last year, a gunman killed Ko Ni, a prominent member of Myanmar's Muslim minority and a legal adviser for the ruling National League for Democracy party. He was shot in the head at the Yangon airport. Ko Ni, who wasn't Rohingya, had criticised the NLD in 2015 for not putting up Muslim candidates in the general election. Since 25 August, abuse has intensified, and Rohingya leaders risk their safety if they speak out publicly. "We feel this everywhere," says Kyaw Min, who spent seven years in prison on what he calls politically motivated charges. Though most Rohingya worry less about their political future and more about putting food on their plates, the sense of discrimination and persecution is a heavy burden. All of them, says Kyaw Min, "will have some sort of scar in their hearts". Aung San Win, director general of Myanmar's Ministry of Religion, denies that there is discrimination in the country against Muslims. "Everyone is granted rights to freedom by the constitution, including Muslims," he insists. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you... Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork