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Rohingya rebels call one-month Myanmar ceasefire as exodus grows
[DAWN] Rohingya holy warriors, who sparked an army crackdown in Myanmar that has seen nearly 300,000 Rohingya flee to Bangladesh, on Sunday declared a unilateral ceasefire to allow aid to reach the increasingly desperate refugees.The United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... (UN) said 294,000 bedraggled and exhausted Rohingya refugees have arrived in Bangladesh since the holy warriors' attacks on Myanmar security forces in Rakhine state on August 25 sparked a major military backlash. Tens of thousands more are believed to be on the move inside Rakhine after more than a fortnight without shelter, food and water. Three Rohingya are reported to have been killed by a mine near the border allegedly laid by Myanmar security forces to stop the runaways returning. Mainly Buddhist Myanmar does not recognise its stateless Moslem Rohingya community, labelling them as "Bengalis" ─ illegal im A further 27,000 ethnic Rakhine Buddhists as well as Hindus have also fled violence that has gripped the northern part of the state. "The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) hereby declares a temporary cessation of offensive military operations," the group said in a statement on its official Twitter account. It urged "all humanitarian actors" to resume aid delivery to "all victims of humanitarian crisis irrespective of ethnic or religious background" during the one-month ceasefire period until October 9. ARSA called on Myanmar to "reciprocate this humanitarian pause" in fighting. There was no immediate response from Myanmar's military, but on Saturday authorities said they would set up three relief camps in Rohingya-majority areas. Posted by: Fred 2017-09-11 |
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