On Monday, a crowded boat carrying 40 Muslim Rohingyas fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh to escape clashes between the ethnic Arakan Army and Myanmar’s junta forces in western Rakhine state capsized, killing 36 people.
The tragedy highlights how the Rohingya have been caught in the crossfire of Myanmar’s civil war.
The United Nations and rights groups have warned of a repeat of August 2017, when a military operation targeting Rohingya militants in Rakhine state triggered an exodus of 740,000 people across the border.
U.N. Human Rights chief Volker Türk said in a statement on Friday that while many in the international community had vowed to "never again" allow the events of the 2017 military crackdown to repeat themselves, "we are once more witnessing killings, destruction and displacement in Rakhine."
“Thousands of Rohingya have been forced to flee on foot, with the Arakan Army herding them repeatedly into locations that offer scant safe haven,” he said.
“As the border crossings to Bangladesh remain closed, members of the Rohingya community are finding themselves trapped between the military and its allies and the Arakan Army, with no path to safety.”
Human Rights Watch said in a statement that the Rohingya "are facing the gravest threats since 2017," and called on the U.N. and international governments to do more to hold those responsible for "the ongoing cycles of abuses, destruction, and displacement" to account.
Survivor’s account
Among the survivors of Monday’s sinking was 33-year-old MD Juhar, who is sheltering with his family at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar – now home to nearly 1 million displaced people since the crackdown started exactly seven years ago this weekend.
Speaking to RFA Burmese, his brother Nasar Ahmed said Juhar and other residents of Maungdaw township’s Shwe Zar village were forced to flee on Aug. 3, after members of the Arakan Army, or AA – an ethnic armed group that has been fighting the Burmese military off and on for years – entered their tract and told them to leave.
Some two days after the villagers relocated to Maungdaw town, “there was heavy fire, including from artillery, and bombs dropped by drones … resulting in the deaths of many Muslims,” said Ahmed, who lives in a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar.
“As bombs fell, people were terrified and fled for their lives; some headed toward Bangladesh, while others stayed in the town,” he said. “Initially, it was reported that up to 250 people were killed in a single day due to drone-dropped bombs,” he added, although he believes the number could be higher.
‘Many Muslims died’
Juhar’s family fled Maungdaw town, but were unable to find food and shelter, so they decided to try their chances crossing the Naf River to Bangladesh.
They boarded a boat departing from Min Ga Lar Gyi on Sunday evening, but were delayed by the Bangladesh Border Guard as they tried to enter Bangladeshi waters, Ahmed said. At around 5:00 a.m. on Monday, the boat encountered a storm off the Bay of Bengal and capsized, killing 36 passengers.
Ahmed said that when the boat resurfaced after capsizing, Juhar was able to hold on and float alongside it.
“Holding onto the boat, he was able to reach the shore near Layda village in [the Bangladesh township of] Teknaf at around 10:00 a.m.,” he said.
Juhar and three others who made it to shore were promptly arrested by the Bangladesh Border Guard and sent back to Myanmar at 8:00 p.m. the same day,” he said.
Despite their ordeal, the survivors paid 2,500 taka (US$21) each and borrowed another boat to cross again.
“The four of them eventually made it to my home, where I provided them with food and shelter,” Ahmed said. “There were four members of our family involved in that incident, but only one survived.”
“Many Muslims died” in recent weeks, he said. “Some drowned at sea, some were killed by gunfire, and others by bombs. They [the Arakan Army and junta forces] fought, but our community members were killed in the conflict.”
Rohingya sources told RFA that, as of Wednesday, there were "more than 1,500" Rohingya refugees waiting without shelter for the chance to enter Bangladesh via the Naf River, but that "only those who can afford the cost are able to go."
Humanitarian crisis
For the Rohingyas who have been unable to flee to Bangladesh, the situation in Rakhine state is dire.
Both the military and the Arakan Army have been accused of killing Rohingya, with AA fighters blamed for attacking people believed to be supporting junta forces.
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On Aug. 5, dozens of Rohingya people were killed by fire from heavy weapons as they waited for boats to cross to Bangladesh, survivors told Radio Free Asia. Some survivors said the AA was responsible though the insurgents denied that.
Some 20,000 Rohingyas are believed to have fled the conflict in Maungdaw township, and residents of camps for the displaced told RFA this week that hundreds are in urgent need of medical care, while thousands of others lack basic health care and food supplies.
At least 350 Rohingyas are at risk of death from diarrhea and malaria in the Hla Hope Khaung Rohingya displacement camp, where the AA has provided shelter, but little else, said a resident of the camp, who identified himself as Mamoud Ali.
“Rohingya displaced persons are in desperate need of healthcare and food supplies,” he said. “Some are suffering from diarrhea and other chronic diseases, but can’t be treated because they don’t have access to the necessary medicine there.”
The displaced are also dealing with a severe shortage of food supplies, he said.
RFA was unable to contact other Rohingyas at the Hla Hope Khaung camp due to technical difficulties, but AA spokesman Khaing Thu Kha confirmed that the displaced are in urgent need of medical supplies.
“Our health department is doing its best with the medicines we have,” he said. “The issue is that we don't have medicine to control cholera … Additionally, some [of the displaced] are infected with malaria, and we need extra medicine to address this disease as well."
Khaing Thu Kha also called on international organizations, civil society groups, and neighboring countries to provide urgent humanitarian aid.
Calls for a ceasefire
However, assisting the displaced Rohingya from outside of Myanmar is easier said than done, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice Beth Van Schaack told RFA Burmese in a recent interview, as the junta has restricted access to aid providers.
“We don't necessarily have access to cross border points where that assistance can come in, so it's just much more difficult to do that work,” she said, calling for “creative solutions” to approach the situation.
She added that, amid the fighting in Rakhine state, it’s difficult to determine the extent of the crimes against Rohingyas.
“We do know that atrocities are being committed and that because the violence has risen, it's inevitably the civilian population – civilian communities of multiple ethnic groups – that are the ultimate sufferers of this situation,” she said, adding that the U.S. has called on all parties to “commit to more comprehensive efforts at a ceasefire.”
Turk, the U.N. Human Rights chief, raised concerns about “the sharply deteriorating situation across Myanmar, particularly in Rakhine state, where hundreds of civilians have reportedly been killed while trying to flee the fighting.”
“These atrocities demand an unequivocal response - those responsible must be held accountable, and justice must be pursued relentlessly,” said Türk. “It is the responsibility of the international community … to take all necessary measures to protect the Rohingya and other civilian victims of this cruel conflict.”
Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.