Myanmar: Rohingya village blockaded in Rakhine state (west)

Event

Approximately 700 Rohingya Muslims have been blockaded inside the village of Zay Di Pyin in western Rakhine state since late July 2017, according to media reports released on August 22. Residents, aid workers, and international monitoring agencies said the villagers have been prevented from going to work or purchasing food and water for approximately the last three weeks by Rakhine Buddhist villagers. Tensions in the village are rising as resources run low and intercommunal violence between Zay Di Pyin villagers and Rakhine Buddhists is possible in the coming days. Government officials have said they are working to improve security in the area.

Context

Tensions between majority Buddhists and minority Muslims have historically been high in Myanmar. This latest spike in tensions is due to the disappearance of a Rakhine Buddhist man from a nearby village in late July. The incident was blamed on the Rohingya community, a group of more than 1 million Muslims who primarily live in Rakhine.

Tensions in the state more generally have been particularly high since October 2016, when armed groups of Rohingyas raided several border checkpoints at the Bangladeshi border, injuring a dozen Burmese soldiers. Retaliatory attacks took place in the following days as the military deployed troops to the area and imposed a curfew. In a bid to demonstrate its ability to handle the situation, the Burmese military carried out counterinsurgency operations for four months, ending in mid-February 2017. Human rights groups accused the army of committing crimes against humanity, and possibly ethnic cleansing, during their crackdown operations, including rape, torture, the destruction of over 1000 homes, and the killing of an unknown number of civilians, possibly over 1000. This violent crackdown caused an estimated 70,000 Rohingyas to flee across the border to Bangladesh, while at least 20,000 were internally displaced. The UN has established a fact-finding mission to investigate crimes against humanity allegedly committed by the military during the counteroffensive.

Advice

Individuals present in Myanmar are advised to remain vigilant and to adhere by all instructions issued by authorities. Due to poor security conditoins, some Western governments and Myanmar authorities advise their citizens against nonessential travel to Rakhine state - with the exception of the southern townships of Kyaukpyu, Ramree, Munaung, Toungup, Thandwe (including the tourist resort of Ngapali), and Gwa - and the Bangladeshi border.