File photo shows
Muslim Rohingyas at the Say Thamagyi Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp,
located on the outskirts of Sittwe, capital of Myanmar's western Rakhine state.
June 18, 2013
A United Nations
agency says thousands of people remain displaced in Myanmar a year after
extremist Buddhists launched deadly attacks against Rohingya Muslims in the
country’s Rakhine State.
The UN Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday that some over
140,000 people remain in camps with little hope of returning home.
The UN sources
noted that the violence has claimed up to 167 lives and destroyed 10,000
buildings in the troubled region.
Myanmar Army forces
allegedly provided the fanatics with containers of petrol for torching the
houses of Muslim villagers, who were then forced to flee. Myanmar’s government
has been repeatedly criticized for failing to protect the Muslim minority.
International and
rights groups accuse Myanmar’s Buddhists of systematic attacks on Muslims,
particularly the Rohingyas.
The international
organizations also accuse the government of failing to protect the Muslim
minority. Large numbers of Muslims have been killed, and tens of thousands
displaced as a result of violence in recent years.
"The
consequences of statelessness for Muslims in the Rakhine State continue to have
a direct effect on the fundamental human rights, and social and economic
development of Myanmar," said Ashok Nigam, UN humanitarian coordinator for
Myanmar on Tuesday.
The extremists
frequently attack Rohingyas and have set fire to their homes in several villages
in western state of Rakhine.
Rohingya Muslims
have faced torture, neglect, and repression in Myanmar for many years.
Thousands of
Rohingyas in Rakhine are deprived of citizenship rights, becoming vulnerable to
acts of violence, expulsion, and displacement.
Comments