Myanmar: Buddhist nationalists clash with Muslims in Yangon May 10

Event

Media sources have reported that police fired warning shots to break up fights between Buddhist nationalists and Muslims in Yangon in the early hours of Wednesday, May 10. The clash reportedly occurred in a Muslim neighborhood after a crowd of Buddhist nationalists went “hunting for ‘illegal’ Rohingya” who they claimed were hiding in a house in the Mingalar Taung Nyunt township. At least one man was injured in the incident. Further protests and associated violence are possible in the coming days and weeks.

Context

Nationalists within Myanmar’s Buddhist majority have increased their hostility toward the country’s Muslim minority in recent weeks and months, holding protests and stopping Islamic religious ceremonies from taking place. Two schools were recently closed temporarily over accusations that they were also serving as mosques.

The Rohingya people are a group of more than 1 million Muslims who primarily live in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state. Armed groups of Rohingyas simultaneously raided several border checkpoints in Rakhine state at the Bangladeshi border on October 9, 2016, injuring a dozen Myanmar soldiers. Retaliatory attacks took place in the following days as the military deployed into the area and imposed a curfew.

In a bid to demonstrate its ability to handle the situation, the military carried out counterinsurgency operations for four months until 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, and other abuses, burning down more than a thousand homes, and killing an unknown number of civilians, possibly over a thousand. This violent crackdown caused an estimated 70,000 Rohingyas to flee across the border to Bangladesh, while at least 20,000 were internally displaced.

Advice

Individuals present in the affected areas are advised to remain vigilant and to adhere to all instructions issued by authorities.

As a precautionary measure, many Western governments and Myanmar authorities advise travelers against all but essential travel to Rakhine state except the southern townships of Kyaukpyu, Ramree, Munaung, Toungup, Thandwe (including the tourist resort of Ngapali), and Gwa. Individuals present in western Myanmar should avoid nonessential travel to the region bordering Bangladesh.