The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, a 57-nation group, has condemned new attacks on Rohingya Muslims in Burma amid reports that a whole Rohingya enclave in Kyaukpyu was burned to the ground, destroying 811 homes or related structures.
OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu released a statement calling the violence “deplorable and a blatant violation of human rights”. Even worse, the violence came at the end of Ramadan, an annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
The Human Rights Watch, based in the United States, points to satellite images that show major and extensive destruction of property and homes in Kyaukpyu’s mostly Rohingya Muslim coastal area. The group says this is just one of several areas where there are new injuries, deaths and property damage from attacks that started last week.
The group said in a press release that it can see on the satellite images 811 structures that no longer stand on the eastern coast, likely caused by arson attacks reportedly conducted less than a day before the satellite images were taken.
The area in question is 35 acres or 14 hectares in size and includes 633 buildings and 178 barges or houseboats on the water that were also razed. The images show no indications of damage to the east or west of this zone.
A spokesperson for HRW called on the Burmese government to provide security for the Rohingya in Arakan since they are clearly under attack. He said that things will only get worse if action isn’t taken by the government.
There were no new clashes immediately after the event, according to Win Myaing, a spokesman for the Arakan government who spoke to the Associated Press and other news agencies.
HRW raised concerns that the death toll could actually be much higher than was reported by the government. Its comments were based on one eyewitness reports from those fleeing the scene as well as the government’s well-known propensity for publishing numbers that are favourable to the state and therefore could shunt criticism of it.
OIC chief Ihsanoglu said in his Saturday statement that the Burmese authorities must “deploy concrete measures” to end the aggression against the Muslims in Arakan and to create safer and more secure lives and property situations for all Muslims in the nation.
He also called for the proper authorities to bring those who committed the violent acts to justice and create policies of reconciliation and integration aimed at healing the rift between Muslims and the Buddhist community.
The violence must be addressed at its core, he said, to eliminate the widespread discrimination against these Rohingya Muslims whose “right of citizenship” should be acknowledged.
The OIC chief also said his organisation is poised to offer humanitarian help and services to those who have been harmed by the violence.
The United Nations considers the Rohingya Muslims the most persecuted people in the world and has warmed that the violent clashes may be “irreparably” damaging Burma’s new democracy.
According to a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, reform and opening up processes by the fledgling government could be damaged and the social order negatively impacted by the “deeply troubling” developments.
Mistrust between communities, the statement from the spokesman said, is being exploited by criminals and militants with the aim of causing “large-scale loss of human lives”.
