Junta police seen handing out gasoline in latest torchings of Rohingya homes in Arakan State, Burma -

Dear All, Please share our Press Release with your contact groups. Best, Tun Khin Date: 24.10.2012 Hundreds Killed and Thousands of Homes Destroyed in Arakan State During the last 24 hours, BROUK has received the following information from the ground; 1. A Rakhine mob set fire to Yin Thae Village and Parin village of Mrauk Oo where Rohingya are living. Police forces were seen giving containers of petrol to the mob to burn down Rohingya houses. More than 600 houses burnt down in both villages. Eyewitnesses say that more than 100 Rohingya were killed by the mob while setting the fires. 2. According to an escaped victim, many Rohingya had run away to hide. Police had called them out of their hiding places saying that they (the police) had come to control the situation and would make a truce between them and the Rakhine. Believing what police had said, killed them and the police did not stop them. Around 350 Rohingya women and children were hiding near the cemetery of Parin Village. The Rakhine mob and security forces killed almost all of them according to escaped victims who witnessed the attack. Many of the Rohingya who escaped the attacks are now in paddy fields, with nowhere to go. 3. A Rakhine mob set fire to Nagara Pauktaw village, Min Bya Township.100 Rohingya houses burnt down. More than 200 Rohingya were slaughtered by the mob according to eyewitnesses. 4. A Rakhine Mob set fire to Paikthae Village Kyauk Phyu Township. While Paikthay village was on fire, the fire fighters came to the spot with tank load of petrol in the guise of putting out the fire. More than 600 Muslim houses were burned down. We can’t confirm exact number of the deaths of Rohingya at the moment. Many Muslims fled into to the sea and others are in hiding. 5. 10:30am UK time two villages were set fire in Pauktaw Township. According to latest information many people are jumping to the river to escape. At the moment, it is very difficult to get any news out of these regions as the authority is confiscating all the cellular phones that Rohingya have to stop news reaching the outside world. Tun Khin President of BROUK said “Ethnic cleansing is happening under the noses of the international community and they are doing nothing. These are not communal clashes; this is not equal sides fighting. This is state organized and state sanctioned ethnic cleansing where the vast majority of those killed and displaced are Rohingyas. The international Community has staked so much on Thein Sein‘s reform process that even when he proposed ethnic cleansing they stayed silent, and even when ethnic cleansing takes place they stay silent. There is no way this violence would continue if the government genuinely wanted to stop it”. BROUK President Tun Khin also said “Whenever there is ethnic cleansing the international community says never let it happen again. Well it is happening again right now in Burma and once again the international community is failing to act. There needs to be UN observers on the ground immediately.” For more information, please contact Tun Khin +44 (0) 788714866