"The anti-Rohingya violence has since affected other Muslims in Burma. In September, a Buddhist mob rampaged through a Muslim neighborhood of Kamein ethnicity in Thandwe, a town in Rakhine state. Among those killed was a 94-year-old grandmother. Attacks have been reported in dozens of locations across Burma. In the central town of Meiktila, for example, a mob massacred middle-school students and their teachers, among others. Survivors told investigators from Physicians for Human Rights grisly details of beatings, stabbings, decapitations and immolations while scores of police officers watched and hundreds of bystanders cheered and shouted such things as, “Kill them!” A key catalyst for the violence is the rising influence of the 969 movement, a campaign led by Buddhist monks that preaches religious purity and urges boycotts of Muslim-owned businesses.
The threat of future violence is acute against all Muslims in Burma but particularly the Rohingya. Burma’s 1982 citizenship law does not include the Rohingya among the country’s officially recognized ethnic groups, so they are essentially stateless. They are widely reviled throughout Burma as illegal immigrants. They must obtain official approval to marry and to travel, even to neighboring villages; in some areas, they are prohibited from having more than two children. Many Rohingya, including children, have been forced to work without pay for government and military authorities. Rohingya routinely face arbitrary arrest and detention, confiscation of property, and physical and sexual violence.
Perhaps most outrageous amid this violence against Rohingya and other Muslims has been the tacit support of Burmese authorities. Investigations by Physicians for Human Rights and others have found that Buddhist monks and local politicians incited and led many of the attacks. State security forces have failed or refused to stop incidents of violence and sometimes participated in it. While hundreds of Muslims have been jailed for supposedly instigating the violence, few perpetrators have been arrested. It has become evident that there is little risk in Burma to those who attack Muslims. "
The threat of future violence is acute against all Muslims in Burma but particularly the Rohingya. Burma’s 1982 citizenship law does not include the Rohingya among the country’s officially recognized ethnic groups, so they are essentially stateless. They are widely reviled throughout Burma as illegal immigrants. They must obtain official approval to marry and to travel, even to neighboring villages; in some areas, they are prohibited from having more than two children. Many Rohingya, including children, have been forced to work without pay for government and military authorities. Rohingya routinely face arbitrary arrest and detention, confiscation of property, and physical and sexual violence.
Perhaps most outrageous amid this violence against Rohingya and other Muslims has been the tacit support of Burmese authorities. Investigations by Physicians for Human Rights and others have found that Buddhist monks and local politicians incited and led many of the attacks. State security forces have failed or refused to stop incidents of violence and sometimes participated in it. While hundreds of Muslims have been jailed for supposedly instigating the violence, few perpetrators have been arrested. It has become evident that there is little risk in Burma to those who attack Muslims. "
