US: Violence against Rohingya continued in 2017

By Muhammed Bilal Kenasari

WASHINGTON

The U.S.' International Religious Freedom Report 2017 released on Tuesday stated that violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar continued last year.

“Violence, discrimination, and harassment against ethnic Rohingya, who are nearly all Muslim, and other minority populations continued,” said the annual U.S. State Department report.

Calling the situation of the Rohingya “desperate,” Ambassador Sam Brownback, who prepared the report, told a press briefing, “I don’t think you’ve seen progress taking place there in the country” of Myanmar, the site of a violent crackdown on the Rohingya.

He also warned that with the arrival of the rainy season, the Rohingya, who had to flee their houses, would suffer more.

“The [Myanmar] administration there is doubling now its effort… and the refugee numbers are increasing in the northern part” of the country, he added.

“When I was there, you had 38 kids that had been killed, had died of diphtheria. I thought we were done with that,” he recounted.

“There was about 20 young children that had gathered around me, and I asked randomly five of them what they had seen. Of the five, four had seen a direct close family member killed, and the fifth had seen a brother wounded,”

Brownback also said the situation was “terrible” and required the world’s attention.

“There is a lot of world attention on it, but I think there needs to be more action from the world,” he said.

Persecution of Rohingya

Since Aug. 25, 2017, more than 750,000 refugees, mostly children, and women have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community, according to Amnesty International.

At least 9,400 Rohingya were killed in Rakhine from Aug. 25 to Sept. 24 last year, according to Doctors Without Borders.

In a recent report, the humanitarian group said the deaths of 71.7 percent or 6,700 Rohingya were caused by violence. They include 730 children below the age of 5.

Turkey has been at the forefront of providing aid to Rohingya refugees, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has raised the issue at the UN.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

The UN documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by security personnel.

In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.

US excludes itself from report

The U.S. did not include the restrictions on religious freedom within its borders in the report, which includes 200 different countries.

Especially since President Donald Trump took office, there has been a rise in Islamophobic rhetoric and restrictions on Muslims.

In his election campaign, Trump promised to ban Muslims from entering the country, and once elected he ordered visa restrictions on citizens of certain largely Muslim countries.