3rd Anniversary of Myanmar Military’s Coup;
Rohingya civilians bear brunt
Press Release | February 1, 2024
Today marks the third anniversary of the Myanmar Military’s coup led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing which further devastates and destabilises the country in the bloodiest period of Myanmar’s history.
On Wednesday, the military’s National Defence and Security Council agreed to extend the state of emergency by another six months for the fifth time after the military ousted the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, reasoning that “the situation in not normal and to be able to continue the process of combatting terrorists”.
Over 4,000 have been killed and more than 25,000 have been arrested including rights activists, journalists, religious leaders and politicians during the two years period of the military coup. The coup also sees the widespread armed conflicts in ethnic minority regions as well as the Bamar majority-dominant central Myanmar where People’s Defence Forces (PDFs) emerged with and without cooperations with various ethnic armed groups to counter the military’s atrocities.
Over the last few months, the military regime has become desperate in its indiscriminate shelling and killing of civilians as it has lost scores of its soldiers, and swath of lands to the ethnic armed groups and PDFs which were once controlled and influenced by the military.
Amidst the military coup and the conflicts between the military and the armed groups, the remaining Rohingya population in Rakhine State bear the brunt the bloodiest conflicts.
The widespread clashes between the military and the Arakan Army (AA) in Rakhine State reach to the villages of Rohingya civilians. The Rohingya villages are used as the battlegrounds to intentionally cause far-reaching destruction of Rohingya civilians and properties. Since January 25, 2024, the use of Rohingya villages in Buthidaung Township resulted in the deaths of over twenty Rohingya civilians including a pregnant woman and the displacement of the hundreds of villagers to further uncertainty and unsafety.
The attacks on the Rohingya civilians come despite the International Court of Justice (ICJ) imposed provisional measures directing Myanmar to prevent all genocidal acts, to ensure the military and other security forces do not commit acts of genocide, and to take steps to preserve evidence.
Furthermore, nearly a million Rohingya civilians who have been forced to flee into Bangladesh during the genocidal campaigns in 2016 and 2017, are still lingering in limbo in refugee camps without the sight of hope returning to their native land in Rakhine as the military which has launched the genocidal campaigns is in the power following the military coup.
The three-year of notorious Sr. General Min Aung Hlaing’s regime has brought destructions and devastations of unimaginable scales across the country, particularly affecting the most vulnerable and marginalised communities.
The European Rohingya Council (ERC) acknowledges and commends the sacrifice and bravery that the people of Myanmar from across all walks of life show in striving for a peaceful, democratic, equal and diverse country on the face of Sr. General Min Aung Hlaing’s oppressive military regime.
The European Rohingya Council (ERC) urges the European Union and the international community to take effective actions and sanctions on the military and cut its supply chain of military equipment used to commit atrocities against the civilians, and further measures to protect persecuted and vulnerable groups such as the Rohingya people.
For more information:
Dr. Ambia Perveen
Chairperson
The European Rohingya Council
info@theerc.eu
Loading...
Reload document 
Open in new tab