Description:
The document was originally completed in August 2018 but issued on 24 September 2018...EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: "The Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR),
with funding support from the Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL),
conducted a survey in spring 2018 of the
firsthand experiences of 1,024 Rohingya refugees
in Cox?s Bazar District, Bangladesh. The goal of
the survey was to document atrocities committed
against residents in Burma?s northern Rakhine
State during the course of violence in the
previous two years.
The survey used a representative sample of
refugee camp populations to provide insights into
the violence they witnessed. Any hearsay
testimony was not recorded. Survey results
reveal the pattern of events refugees experienced.
There may be cases when multiple refugees
reported witnessing the same event, so the
percentages from this survey should not be
extrapolated to come up with a definitive overall
number of events. The National GeospatialIntelligence
Agency (NGA) worked with INR to
map and analyze the resulting data (see Map 1).
The results of the survey show that the vast
majority of Rohingya refugees experienced or
directly witnessed extreme violence and the
destruction of their homes. They identified the
Burmese military as a perpetrator in most cases.
• Most witnessed a killing, two-thirds witnessed an injury, and half witnessed sexual
violence (see Figure 1).
• Rohingya identified the Burmese military as a perpetrator in 84% of the killings or
injuries they witnessed.
• Three-quarters say they saw members of the army kill someone; the same proportion say
they witnessed the army destroying huts or whole villages. Police, unidentified security
forces, and armed civilians carried out the rest of the observed killings.
• One-fifth of all respondents witnessed a mass-casualty event of killings or injuries (either
in their villages or as they fled) with more than 100 victims.
1
The two main phases of violence—the first in October 2016 and the second beginning in August
2017—followed attacks against Burmese security forces by the Rohingya insurgent group
Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). The vast majority of reported incidents against
Rohingya took place from August to October 2017. The survey shows that the military, which
used the ARSA attacks to justify its so-called counterinsurgency operations in northern Rakhine
State, targeted civilians indiscriminately and often with extreme brutality.
• Forty-five percent of refugees witnessed a rape, and the majority of rapes witnessed were
committed, in whole or in part, by the army. Overall, nearly 40% of refugees saw a rape
committed by members of the Burmese security services—either police or military—
including 18% who saw them commit a gang rape.
• Members of the security services, as well as non-Rohingya civilians in some cases,
targeted children and pregnant women.
• Those who were left behind because they were elderly, sick, or otherwise infirm were
frequently found dead when their relatives returned to check on them.
The survey reveals that the recent violence in northern Rakhine State was extreme, large-scale,
widespread, and seemingly geared toward both terrorizing the population and driving out the
Rohingya residents. The scope and scale of the military?s operations indicate they were wellplanned
and coordinated. In some areas, perpetrators used tactics that resulted in mass
casualties, for example, locking people in houses to burn them, fencing off entire villages before
shooting into the crowd, or sinking boats full of hundreds of fleeing Rohingya."
Source/publisher:
US Dept. of State
Date of Publication:
2018-08-00
Date of entry:
2018-09-28
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English
Local URL:
Format:
pdf
Size:
726.79 KB