Rohingya Organisation Warns of Intensifying Genocide in Myanmar
KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 (Bernama) – The Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) issued a dire warning regarding the escalating genocide against the Rohingya community in Myanmar.
In a statement on Wednesday, BROUK urged immediate action from the international community, particularly the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), to enforce the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) provisional measures aimed at protecting the vulnerable Rohingya population.
It said that the British government, as the penholder on Myanmar at the UNSC, should urgently convene a meeting to discuss the growing crisis.
According to BROUK, the situation in the Rakhine State has significantly deteriorated since the resumption of hostilities last November, with the junta facing defeat by the Arakan Army (AA).
It said in response, the military regime has intensified its decades-long strategy of divide-and-rule, resorting to forcibly recruiting Rohingya men and sending them to the frontlines against the AA.
In the statement, the President of BROUK, Tun Khin, said that the regime has targeted Rohingya for forced recruitment because they are vulnerable.
“We cannot flee because of the restrictions on movement the junta has imposed on us – Rakhine State is like an open-air prison.
“The junta views us as expendable. This is their latest heinous way to intensify the genocide against us,” he said.
Reports indicate that as many as 1,000 Rohingya young men, including internally displaced individuals, have been forcibly recruited into the Burmese military in recent weeks.
BROUK noted that these individuals have been abducted from their homes, villages, markets, and internally displaced people (IDP) camps, subjected to military training and sent to the frontlines with minimal preparation.
“The regime's actions have sparked widespread fear and desperation among the Rohingya population, who are facing extreme pressure to comply with recruitment orders.
“Rohingya leaders have been threatened, detained, and coerced into providing young male conscripts, with reports of gunpoint intimidation and overnight detentions,” said the statement.
In addition to forced recruitment, Rohingya communities have been ordered to participate in anti-Arakan Army protests orchestrated by the regime.
These coerced protests, aimed at stoking ethnic and religious tensions, further endanger the Rohingya population.
Tun Khin reiterated the urgent need for action to stop the escalating violence and prevent further atrocities against the Rohingya.
-- BERNAMA
