- Title: Timeline of plight of Rohingya Muslims, as UN convenes Global Refugee Forum
- Date: 6th December 2019
- Summary: Two weeks after the start of another bout of violence in Rakhine State, and as hundreds of thousands were fleeing the country into neighbouring Bangladesh, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi called the situation one of the "biggest challenges" the country has faced. But she added her team was on the task and implementing measures aimed at bringing about peace and harmony. She also said it was "unreasonable" that her government should be expected to resolve the issue, which she called "historical", in the 18 months since coming to power. YANGON, MYANMAR (FILE - SEPTEMBER 7, 2017) (ANI - NO USE INDIA) AUNG SAN SUU KYI LOOKING ON SUU KYI, SAYING (English): "I think it is a little unreasonable to expect us to resolve everything in 18 months." Pressure from the international community on the Myanmar government to stop the violence against its ethnic minority Rohingya population markedly increased in September, particularly from countries with large Muslim populations. Protesters in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka showed their outrage by setting a mock coffin for Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on fire. The United Nations' top human rights official at the start of September denounced Myanmar for conducting a "cruel military operation" against the Rohingya, branding it "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing". The numbers of those fleeing the country reached 400,000. Then U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called it a "defining moment" for the new Myanmar government, urging for the violence and the persecution to stop. However he said he understood the "complex situation" Suu Kyi had found herself in considering the power-sharing agreement her party has with the military. Suu Kyi also cancelled a trip to the U.N. General Assembly in New York to deal with the crisis. LUDHIANA, PUNJAB, INDIA (FILE - SEPTEMBER 12, 2017) (ANI - NO USE INDIA) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING AND HOLDING UP PLACARDS, SOME WITH PICTURES OF SUU KYI ON THEM PLACARD READING (English): "SILENCE IS A WAR CRIME" NEXT TO A BANNER WITH SUU KYI'S PICTURE ON IT
- Embargoed: 20th December 2019 00:45
- Keywords: Bangladesh Myanmar Rohingya Rohingya Muslims Rohingya crisis Rohingya timeline file footage refugee camps timeline
- Location: COX'S BAZAR, DHAKA AND GHUMDUM, BANGLADESH / YANGON, RAKHINE STATE AND NAYPYITAW, MYANMAR / PUNJAB, INDIA / LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / NEW MEXICO, UNITED STATES
- City: COX'S BAZAR, DHAKA AND GHUMDUM, BANGLADESH / YANGON, RAKHINE STATE AND NAYPYITAW, MYANMAR / PUNJAB, INDIA / LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / NEW MEXICO, UNITED STATES
- Country: Various
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA002B8UXUTJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: This video timeline chronicles an ongoing crisis involving ethnic Rohingya Muslims who have fled Myanmar in droves since August 2017, as the UN convenes Global Refugee Forum in Geneva.
More than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh since a 2017 crackdown by Myanmar's military, which U.N. investigators say was carried out with "genocidal intent". Buddhist majority Myanmar denies accusations of genocide.
Rights monitors and fleeing Rohingyas said Myanmar security forces and Rakhine Buddhist vigilantes had launched a campaign of violence and arson aimed at driving out the Muslim population.
Myanmar had said its forces were carrying out clearance operations against the insurgents of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, which claimed responsibility for the August attacks and similar, smaller, raids in October in 2016.
The strife had triggered an outpouring of response from global bodies and humanitarian agencies.
Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi called the Rohingya crisis a "complex" issue which her government had inherited. She said that the strife between Muslims and other communities in Rakhine state had existed since the 19th century and restoring trust and harmony would take time.
Myanmar has publicly blamed the crisis on Rohingya "terrorists", referring to militants who attacked security posts in August 2017, prompting the army crackdown, and has branded reports of atrocities, including gang-rapes and mass killings, as fake news.
(Production: Phyllis Xu) - Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
