PRESS
RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cyclone
Mahasen threatens lives of tens of thousands of displaced Rohingya Muslims in
Burma’s Arakan State
Government of Burma must ensure freedom of movement
and urgently protect all IDPs in flood plains
(May 13, 2013, Oslo, Norway)—The government of Burma should urgently
facilitate the relocation of tens of thousands of at-risk, internally displaced
Rohingya to higher ground before the arrival of heavy rains from an approaching
cyclone, Partners Relief and Development (Partners) said today. At least
140,000 internally displaced Rohingya Muslims are sheltering in official and
makeshift camps in Burma’s Arakan State, many of which are located in
flood-prone areas. Cyclone
“Mahasen” is expected to reach landfall on Wednesday or Thursday this week,
potentially affecting populations in Burma, Bangladesh, and India. The
government has not evacuated any displaced Rohingya out of squalid, low-lying
displacement camps in areas outside Sittwe.
“These people are bracing themselves for the storm. They expect their area to flood and shelters to be blown flat by high winds,” says Partners CEO, Steve Gumaer, who is currently in affected areas in Arakan State. “They are fighting for their lives against the sea, rain, wind, and a government that has persecuted them for decades.”
For several months, the local and central
government have received warnings from the UN agencies, governments, and rights
groups about the upcoming monsoon season and the need to evacuate the IDPs to
higher ground. The authorities have been warned numerous times about the
approaching cyclone and the devastating effect it will have. There is no sign
that any measures have been taken to aid the Rohingya IDPs outside Sittwe to
higher ground, Partners said. Nearly 20,000 Rohingya IDPs in Pauktaw are
particularly at risk, as well as IDPs in Myebon.
“The central government is not absolved of responsibility in this situation. The authorities seem intent on killing these people one way or another,” said Gumaer.
The authorities restrict the Rohingyas’ freedom of
movement, which could be fatal if the camps are flooded and natural disaster
strikes.
“There has been no action taken to evacuate these people and no indication they will be free to flee if this storm strikes,” Gumaer said. “It is essential the government ensures everyone has freedom of movement in Arakan State.”
Partners
said sizable groups of the displaced Rohingya outside Sittwe had not eaten for
four days because they are technically “unregistered IDPs.” Only registered
IDPs are given food rations by the UN’s World Food Programme, leaving thousands
without adequate or steady rations. At least 7,000 Muslims in Aung Mingalar,
the last Muslim village in the state capital Sittwe, have also been denied
humanitarian aid. Tens of thousands of displaced lack adequate health care,
latrines, shelter, clothing, and other necessities.
Numerous educated Rohingya and community leaders
have been arrested in areas surrounding Sittwe since April 26, including
children. Partners documented systematic torture of Rohingya detainees and
denial of due process rights. The
systematic abuse, neglect, and failure to protect 140,000
civilians from natural disaster, while denying food rations and other
international aid to tens of thousands, is a violation of basic human rights. Partners
calls on the Government of Burma to immediately evacuate all at-risk
populations, especially Rohingya IDPs from the potential disaster zone; to authorize
food rations to all IDPs; and to give international and national aid
organizations free access to the areas where thousands are living in subhuman
conditions.
Partners
Relief & Development (PRAD) is a registered charity in six countries. The work
of Partners has provided emergency relief and sustainable development for tens
of thousands of displaced people in Burma since 1994. PRAD seeks free, full
lives for the children of Burma and reconciled communities living in peace.
For additional
information or photographs, please contact: oddny@partnersworld.org
Background
Information
Some 800,000 to one million Muslim Rohingyas live
in western Burma, where they are denied basic rights and citizenship, rendering
them stateless. They have been described by the UN as one of the world’s most
persecuted minorities. Since violence broke out in Arakan State in June 2012
between Arakanese Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims—aided by state security
forces— at least 140,000 Rohingyas have taken refuge in displacement camps
after their villages were destroyed. Tens of thousands of others have fled the
country by sea, risking death.
The
Rohingya have lived under systematic racial discrimination by the authorities for
decades. They were forced to flee horrific violence before ending up in
makeshift camps by the sea where they lack everything from medical facilities,
latrines, shelters, blankets and regular food distribution. Now a tropical
cyclone threatens to kill them unless they get immediate help to evacuate.
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