Rohingya crisis: Calls for Britain to investigate 'crimes against humanity'
Charity leaders tell MPs there is an urgent need for action amid reports of murder, rape and violence against Rohingyas.
Tuesday 14 November 2017 18:53, UK
Leading charities have spoken in Parliament of murder, mass rape and abuse on a massive scale taking place against the Rohingya people in Myanmar.
The Commons International Development Committee heard harrowing reports of murder, rape and sex trafficking, as well as increasing cases of forced child marriage.
Accusing Myanmar of "crimes against humanity", committee chair Stephen Twigg MP called the situation "truly challenging" and "horrendous".
Mr Twigg later told Sky News that the international community now needs to put more pressure on Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
::
The committee asked about sex trafficking and was told by David Mepham, UK Director of Human Rights Watch, that sexual exploitation was rife.
Mr Mepham called on Britain to do more to tackle the "appalling rapes and mass rapes".
He added: "Men, women and children have been hacked to death and raped. We need to find out who's done that, who is accountable."
In testimony to MPs, director of Burma Campaign UK, Mark Farmaner, said Aung San Suu Kyi was complicit in the persecution of the Rohingya.
-
!['My son's dead body floated up in front of me'.]()
Image: 'My son's dead body floated up in front of me'. -
!['Mum let go and she drowned.']()
Image: 'Mum let go and she drowned.' -
!['I fell down and he began raping me.']()
Image: 'I fell down and he began raping me.' -
!['I was raped and I couldn't stay.']()
Image: 'I was raped and I couldn't stay.' -
![The military took away her husband]()
Image: The military took away her husband -
![Mohammed Shoaib, 7, was shot in the chest in Myanmar]()
Image: Mohammed Shoaib, 7, was shot in the chest in Myanmar
He said her "near heroine status" should now be re-evaluated, drawing attention to what he called her "authoritarian tendencies" and her decision not to repeal repressive laws.
The persecution of the Muslim-majority group has been described by the UN as "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing".
:: Why is the Rohingya crisis not classed as genocide?
As hundreds of thousands of Rohingya flee violence in the Buddhist Rakhine State, there have been calls for the international community to do more.
Human Rights Watch says that 288 Rohingya villages have been destroyed since August, with tens of thousands of homes destroyed.
Violence began in the region following a series of Rohingya militant attacks on police posts, which the government said left 12 members of the security forces dead.
Labelling the militants "terrorists", security forces went on to carry out a "targeted campaign of widespread and systematic murder, rape and burning", according to Amnesty International.
Prime Minister Theresa May has called the Rohingya crisis "heartbreaking" and pledged to deepen partnerships with Asian countries in a move to combat such problems.
Saying the crisis "looks like ethnic cleansing", she said it is "something for which the Burmese authorities - and especially the military - must take full responsibility."
Mrs May added that the UK would continue to "do everything possible to stop this appalling and inhuman destruction of the Rohingya people."
As part of the aid effort, a Boeing 747 full of Red Cross aid has been sent to Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.