JAKARTA: At least 80 Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar have been detained on a remote island off Sumatra by police as they attempted sneak into the country to escape the violence in their home country, immigration officials told Bikyanews.com. It was the most recent boat of Rohingya Muslims to arrive on the shores of Indonesia, as thousands have fled Myanmar after tensions between Muslims and Buddhists erupted in their home state of Rakhine last year. “It is very difficult to determine what to do with them at this point,” one official told Bikyanews.com. “We are looking at all possibilities.” Myanmar's President Thein Sein said last Sunday that the ongoing violence that is targeting Muslims in the Eastern part of the country by extremist Buddhists has “tarnished" the country's image across the globe. Dozens of people have been killed in the violence that has been ongoing for months and has led to massive international concern over the situation of Rohingya Muslims in the country. A wave of violence that began on March 20 saw mosques and homes burned in several towns in central Myanmar, leaving at least 43 dead and prompting the government to impose emergency rule and curfews in some areas. “Some members of the public have killed and committed arson in the spirit of anger rather than be governed by the law and their actions have tarnished the country's image on the world stage," said Thein Sein in a radio address late Sunday. The former general added that such incidents would “badly harm the country's dignity" with the international community and warned that Myanmar's fledgling democratic transition could be destabilised by the communal fighting. And those attempting to flee the violence have had little luck. Since mid-June, Bangladesh authorities have admitted to forcing back at least 1,300 Rohingya trying to flee to Bangladesh, though the actual number is likely substantially higher, Human Rights Watch said. Rohingya are escaping killings, looting, and other sectarian violence in Arakan State, as well as abuses by the Burmese authorities, including ethnically motivated attacks and mass arrests. A United Nations senior official expressed serious concern about reports of human rights violations committed by security forces in Myanmar's Rakhine state, after clashes between its Buddhist and Muslim communities reportedly killed at least 78 people and displaced thousands in July. “We have been receiving a stream of reports from independent sources alleging discriminatory and arbitrary responses by security forces, and even their instigation of and involvement in clashes," the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said in a news release. “Reports indicate that the initial swift response of the authorities to the communal violence may have turned into a crackdown targeting Muslims, in particular members of the Rohingya [Muslim] community," she added. According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the state, located in the country's west, was triggered when an ethnic Rakhine woman was raped and murdered on May 28. This was followed by the killing of 10 Muslims by an unidentified mob on June 3. Pillay called for a prompt, independent investigation, noting that the crisis reflects the long-standing and systemic discrimination against the Rohingya Muslim community, who are not recognized by the Government and remain stateless. “The government has a responsibility to prevent and punish violent acts, irrespective of which ethnic or religious group is responsible, without discrimination and in accordance with the rule of law," Pillay said. She also called on national leaders to speak out against discrimination, the exclusion of minorities and racist attitudes, and in support of equal rights for all in Myanmar. She also stressed that the UN was making an effort to assist and protect all communities in Rakhine state. “Prejudice and violence against members of ethnic and religious minorities run the risk of dividing the country in its commendable national reconciliation efforts, undermine national solidarity, and upset prospects of peace-building," Pillay said. Meanwhile, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it is delivering aid to the more than 30,000 people that were affected by the violence. BN
