2016–17 Northern Rakhine State clashes

2016–17 Northern Rakhine State clashes
Part of the Rohingya insurgency in Western Myanmar
Date9 October 2016 – present
(9 months, 4 weeks and 1 day)
LocationNorthern Rakhine State,
Myanmar-Bangladesh border
Status Ongoing
Belligerents
 Myanmar Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army
Commanders and leaders

Htin Kyaw
(President of Myanmar)
Aung San Suu Kyi
(State Counsellor of Myanmar)
Maung Maung Soe
(Commander of the WRMC)[1]

Sein Lwin
(Rakhine Chief of Police)[2]		 Ata Ullah[3][4]
Units involved

Tatmadaw

 No specific units
Strength
33 infantry battalions[1] ~500 fighters[5]
Casualties and losses
13 soldiers and 19 policemen killed[6][7][8][9] 105 killed[6][10][11][12] and 423 arrested[13][14]

137 killed in total[6][11][12][15][16]

1,000+ civilians killed[17][18]
23,000 internally displaced[19]

69,000[19]–75,000[20] fled abroad

The 2016–17 Northern Rakhine State clashes are a series of ongoing clashes between insurgents of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army and Myanmar's security forces.

Following the attacks, reports emerged of several human rights violations allegedly perpetrated by Burmese security forces on civilians in their crackdown on suspected Rohingya insurgents.[21] These reports have been dismissed by the Burmese government as "exaggerations".[22][23]

Background

The Rohingya people are an ethnic minority that mainly live in the northern region of Rakhine State, Myanmar, and have been described as one of the world's most persecuted minorities.[24][25][26] They describe themselves as descendants of Arab traders who settled in the region many generations ago.[24] Scholars have stated that they have been present in the region since the 15th century.[27] However, they have been denied citizenship by the government of Myanmar, which describes them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.[24] In modern times, the persecution of Rohingyas in Myanmar dates back to the 1970s.[28] Since then, Rohingya people have regularly been made the target of persecution by the government and nationalist Buddhists.[29]

Timeline

2016

On 9 October 2016, hundreds of unidentified insurgents attacked three Burmese border posts along Myanmar's border with Bangladesh. According to government officials in the mainly Rohingya border town of Maungdaw, the attackers brandished knives, machetes and homemade slingshots that fired metal bolts. Several dozen firearms and boxes of ammunition were looted by the attackers from the border posts. The attack resulted in the deaths of nine border officers.[30]

On 11 October 2016, four Tatmadaw soldiers were killed on the third day of fighting.[31] Government officials in Rakhine State blamed the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO), an Islamist insurgent group mainly active in the 1980s and 1990s, for the attacks.[32]

On 17 October 2016, a group calling itself Harakah al-Yaqin (also known as the Faith Movement) released a video on several social media sites claiming responsibility for the attacks.[33] In the following days, six other groups released statements, all citing the same leader.[34]

On 2 November 2016, the chief of police in Rakhine Staet, Sein Lwin, announced that his force had begun recruiting non-Rohingya locals for a new branch of "regional police", which would be trained in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, then be sent back to their villages to defend them.[2][35]

On 15 November 2016, the Tatmadaw announced that 69 Rohingya insurgents and 17 security forces (10 policemen, 7 soldiers) had been killed in recent clashes in northern Rakhine State, bringing the death toll to 134 (102 insurgents and 32 security forces). It was also announced that 234 people suspected of being connected to the attack were arrested.[6]

On 14 December 2016, the International Crisis Group (ICG) reported that in interviews, the leaders of the FMA claimed to have links to private individuals in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The ICG also reported that Rohingya villagers had been "secretly trained" by Afghan and Pakistani fighters.[4][36]

On 30 December 2016, nearly two dozen prominent human rights activists, including Malala Yousafzai, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Richard Branson, called on the United Nations Security Council to intervene and end the "ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity" being perpetrated in northern Rakhine State.[37]

2017

On 21 January 2017, the bodies of three Muslim Rohingya men were found in shallow graves in Maungdaw. The men were locals who had worked closely with the local administration, and the government believes they were murdered by Rohingya insurgents in a reprisal attack.[38]

In March 2017, a police document obtained by Reuters listed 423 Rohingyas detained by the police since 9 October 2016, 13 of whom were children, the youngest being ten years old. Two police captains in Maungdaw verified the document and justified the arrests, with one of them saying, "We the police have to arrest those who collaborated with the attackers, children or not, but the court will decide if they are guilty; we are not the ones who decide." Myanmar police also claimed that the children had confessed to their alleged crimes during interrogations, and that they were not beaten or pressured during questioning. The average age of those detained is 34, the youngest is 10, and the oldest is 75.[13][14]

On 8 May 2017, two men were killed in the village of Theni in Buthidaung Township after a makeshift landmine they were making exploded.[39][40] On 22 June 2017, Burmese state media reported that three insurgents had been killed by security forces in a raid on an insurgent camp supposedly belonging to the ARSA, as part of a two-day "area clearance operation" by the government. Authorities confiscated gunpowder, ski masks and wooden rifles suspected to have been used for training.[41][42]

On 27 June 2017, Rakhine State police chief Sein Lwin announced that security forces were on "high alert" after "masked assailants" killed several local administrators close to the Burmese government in the days prior.[43]

On 4 July 2017, a mob of at least a hundred Rakhine Buddhists in Sittwe attacked seven Rohingya men from Dapaing camp for internally displaced persons with bricks,[44] killing one and severely injuring another. The Rohingya men were being escorted by police to Sittwe's docks to purchase boats, but were attacked despite armed guards being present nearby.[45][46][47] According to a spokesman for the Burmese Ministry of Home Affairs, an unarmed junior policeman was with the Rohingya men at the time of the attack, but was unable to stop the attackers.[44] One man was arrested in relation to the attacks on 26 July 2017.[48]

On 30 July 2017, food aid packages of high energy biscuits from the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) were discovered in an insurgent hideout in the Mayu mountain range in Maungdaw Township. The Rakhine State Government and WFP investigated the discovery of the biscuits whether it represented a misuse of food assistance.[49]

On 31 July 2017, three decapitated bodies were found in Rathedaung Township. According to a government official, they were murdered by Rohingya insurgents.[50]

On 3 August 2017, the bodies of six ethnic Mro farmers, reportedly killed by Rohingya insurgents, were found in Maungdaw Township.[51][52][53]

On 6 August 2017, a government appointed commission cleared the government of alleged human rights violations and ethnic cleansing, dismissing allegations by the United Nations and human rights groups as "exaggerations".[22][23]

References

  1. 1 2 Defence Services Historical Museum and Research Institute
  2. 1 2 "Myanmar arms non-Muslim civilians in Rakhine". www.aljazeera.com. 3 November 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  3. ↑ Millar, Paul (16 February 2017). "Sizing up the shadowy leader of the Rakhine State insurgency". Southeast Asia Globe Magazine. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  4. 1 2 J, Jacob (15 December 2016). "Rohingya militants in Rakhine have Saudi, Pakistan links, think tank says".
  5. 1 2 CNN, Katie Hunt. "Myanmar Air Force helicopters fire on armed villagers in Rakhine state". CNN. Cable News Network. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Slodkowski, Antoni (15 November 2016). "Myanmar army says 86 killed in fighting in northwest". Reuters India. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  7. ↑ "Eight dead in clashes between Myanmar army and militants in Rakhine". The Guardian. 13 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  8. ↑ "Eight dead in clashes between Myanmar army and militants in Rakhine". Reuters. 13 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  9. ↑ "8 killed in surge of Rakhine violence: Tatmadaw". Frontier Myanmar. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  10. ↑ "Myanmar: 28 killed in new violence in Rakhine state". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  11. 1 2 "Security forces 'kill 3 armed attackers' in Rohingya raids". The Straits Times. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  12. 1 2 "3 Killed As Suspected Rohingya Insurgent Camp Found In Myanmar: Reports". NDTV.com. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  13. 1 2 Lone, Wa; Lewis, Simon; Das, Krishna N. (17 March 2017). "Exclusive: Children among hundreds of Rohingya detained in Myanmar crackdown". Reuters. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  14. 1 2 "Hundreds of Rohingya held for consorting with insurgents in Bangladesh - Regional | The Star Online". www.thestar.com.my. 18 March 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  15. ↑ "Myanmar Army Evacuates Villagers, Teachers From Hostilities in Maungdaw". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  16. ↑ "Rakhine: Myanmar urged to allow aid into restive state". BBC News. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  17. ↑ "Burmese government 'kills more than 1,000 Rohingya Muslims' in crackdown". The Independent. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  18. ↑ "Village Official Stabbed to Death in Myanmar’s Restive Rakhine State". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  19. 1 2 "Myanmar: Humanitarian Bulletin, Issue 4 | October 2016 - January 2017". ReliefWeb. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  20. ↑ "U.N. rights expert urges Myanmar to protect detained Rohingya children". Reuters. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  21. ↑ James Griffiths (25 November 2016). "Is The Lady listening? Aung San Suu Kyi accused of ignoring Myanmar's Muslims". CNN. Cable News Network.
  22. 1 2 "Government dismisses claims of abuse against Rohingya". Al Jazeera. 6 August 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  23. 1 2 "Myanmar rejects allegations of human rights abuses against Rohingya". Reuters. 6 August 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  24. 1 2 3 Kevin Ponniah (5 December 2016). "Who will help Myanmar's Rohingya?". BBC News.
  25. ↑ Matt Broomfield (10 December 2016). "UN calls on Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi to halt 'ethnic cleansing' of Rohingya Muslims". The Independent. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  26. ↑ "New wave of destruction sees 1,250 houses destroyed in Myanmar's Rohingya villages". International Business Times. 21 November 2016.
  27. ↑ Leider, Jacques (2013). Rohingya: the name, the movement and the quest for identity. Myanmar Egress and the Myanmar Peace Center. pp. 204–255.
  28. ↑ "Rohingya Refugees Seek to Return Home to Myanmar". Voice of America. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  29. ↑ "Myanmar seeking ethnic cleansing, says UN official as Rohingya flee persecution". The Guardian. 24 November 2016.
  30. ↑ "Myanmar policemen killed in Rakhine border attack". BBC News. 9 October 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  31. ↑ "Rakhine unrest leaves four Myanmar soldiers dead". BBC News. 12 October 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  32. ↑ "Myanmar: Fears of violence after deadly border attack". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  33. ↑ "Islamist fears rise in Rohingya-linked violence". Bangkok Post. Post Publishing PCL. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  34. ↑ McPherson, Poppy (17 November 2016). "‘It will blow up’: fears Myanmar's deadly crackdown on Muslims will spiral out of control". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  35. ↑ Slodkowski, By Wa Lone and Antoni. "Troops in Myanmar's Rakhine on high alert after killings of Rohingya| Top News| Reuters". ca.reuters.com. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  36. ↑ "Rohingya insurgency a 'game-changer' for Myanmar". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  37. ↑ Watson, Angus (30 December 2016). "Nobel winners condemn Myanmar violence in open letter". CNN. Cable News Network. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  38. ↑ Gerin, Roseanne; Myaung Nyane, Khin (21 January 2017). "Three More Muslim Men Found Dead in Myanmar’s Maungdaw". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  39. ↑ "Two killed while making landmine in Rakhine". Frontier Myanmar. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  40. ↑ Gerin, Roseanne; Mar, Khet; Thu, Kyaw (8 May 2017). "Explosion of Handmade Bombs Kills Two in Myanmar’s Rakhine State". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  41. ↑ McDonald, Taylor (22 June 2017). "Rohingya ‘insurgent’ camp raided - Asean Economist". Asean Economist. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  42. ↑ "Myanmar forces kill 3 in raid on 'terrorist training camps': State media - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  43. ↑ "Troops in Myanmar's Rakhine on high alert after killings of Rohingya". Reuters. 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  44. 1 2 "Mob kills Muslim man with bricks in street attack as police flee scene". The Independent. 5 July 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  45. ↑ "BREAKING: Mob Kill Rohingya Muslim in Rakhine". The Irrawaddy. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  46. ↑ "One Rohingya man killed, six hurt after argument in Myanmar's Sittwe". Reuters. 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  47. ↑ "Mob in western Myanmar kills Rohingya despite police guards". NY Daily News. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  48. ↑ "Myanmar Police Arrest Man For Deadly Rakhine Mob Attack on Rohingya". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  49. ↑ "Suu Kyi’s office links UN aid to ‘violent attackers’ - Coconuts Yangon". 1 August 2017.
  50. ↑ "Bodies Found, Arrests Made in Tense Northern Rakhine". 1 August 2017.
  51. ↑ "Six Bodies With Gunshot, Machete Wounds Found in Maungdaw". The Irrawaddy. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  52. ↑ "Six killed in Myanmar’s conflict-torn Rakhine: government". 4 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  53. ↑ "Two shot dead, four missing in northern Arakan- DVB Multimedia Group". DVB Multimedia Group. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
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