At least 130 refugees fleeing violence in western Burma
have drowned after the overcrowded fishing boat they believed was
carrying them to safety capsized and sank. Six survivors were rescued by
local fishermen, local activists said.
The shipwreck is the
single most lethal incident linked to the ongoing clashes between the
Muslim Rohingya minority and local Rakhine Buddhists in Burma's Arakan
state. The death toll has reached 80 in the last 11 days, according to
official estimates. Thousands of homes have also been destroyed, along
with places of worship.
Exact details of the wreck are unclear.
But there were fears it could fuel further communal violence, which
itself threatens to jeopardise the reform process in Burma. Last week UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said
that "the vigilante attacks, targeted threats and extremist rhetoric
must be stopped [or] … the opening up process being currently pursued by
the government is likely to be jeopardised".
The crisis has also
posed a major challenge to Nobel laureate and pro-democracy campaigner
Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been criticised for failing to speak out
strongly enough on the issue. Her National League for Democracy party
has remained silent since releasing a brief statement on 24 October.
"[Aung
San Suu Kyi] has an obligation to do something about the crisis but for
some time she has been silent," said Abu Tahay, a Rohingya politician
in Yangon, the country's commercial and cultural capital.
A first
round of violence in June led to 75,000 people, mainly Muslims, fleeing
their homes. The clashes over the last 10 days have forced nearly 30,000
more from their villages, according to the United Nations. The vast
majority are Rohingya, who are not recognised as citizens of Burma and
suffer widespread discrimination. Ethnic Rakhine communities have also
suffered.
"I am very worried about the coming weeks. The situation
is very unstable. In five minutes the violence could be everywhere,"
Abu Tahay said.
On Wednesday a standoff continued on Ramree
Island, close to the centre of recent clashes, as security forces
attempted to protect Rohingya villages from crowds of local Rakhine.
About
7,000 new refugees, including many who had been living on boats for
several days, landed near the port town of Sittwe on Tuesday, NGO
workers said.
Many had been forced to leave their homes in the
town of Kyauk Ni Maw, where the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman,
allegedly by Muslims, in May sparked the sectarian violence that
engulfed much of the state the following month.
Hundreds have taken to boats or sought refuge on unpopulated coastal islands over recent days, refugee sources said.
Neighbouring
Bangladesh, which already has an estimated 300,000 Rohingya refugees,
has closed its border, an act which activists claim violates
international law.
Rohingya campaigners on the Bangladeshi side of
the border contacted by the Guardian said they had seen boats full of
refugees offshore which were unable to land despite running low on water
and food.
Thousands of Rohingya try to leave Burma by boat every year. Many vessels are unseaworthy and every year several sink.
Chris
Lewa, an activist who tracks the ships, said that about 7,000 made the
journey from Burma to Malaysia, often via Thailand, during the 2010-2011
sailing season.
"They are often loaded out to sea and, though some are in better condition than others, they are all packed," she said.
Refugees pay between $1,700 (£1,000) and $2,000 for a place but usually only put down a $400 deposit.
Experts
say the crisis is rooted in ethnic and religious tensions that were
suppressed during nearly 50 years of brutal military rule.
Hand
grenades were thrown on Sunday night at two mosques in Karen state in
the east of the country, causing no casualties, domestic media reported.
Some
of those now fleeing their homes were Burmese Muslims from the
officially recognised Kaman minority. "It's the first time that we've
seen the Kaman targeted. That's very worrying," said Mabrur Ahmed, of
Restless Beings, a UK-based human rights group.
The UN estimate
there are 800,000 Rohingya in Burma. Although many have lived in the
country for generations, they are considered illegal immigrants and face
widespread hostility.
In June President Thein Sein suggested the
best solution to the violence was that the UN resettle Burmese Rohingya
outside the country.
http://www.guardian.co.uk
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