LOC11:58
08:58 GMT
GENEVA, Dec 14 (KUNA) -- At least 6,700 Rohingya in the most conservative estimations, have been killed, including at least 730 children under the age of five years, the Swiss Non Government Organization Medicins Sans Frontiere (MSF) said in a recent press release.
As part of their surveys in refugee settlement camps in Bangladesh, MSF added, an estimate of at least 9,000 Rohingya Muslims died in Myanmar, in Rakhine state, between August 25 and September 24.
MSF also suggested, in its statement, that between 9,425 and 13,759 Rohingya died during the initial 31 days following the start of the violence, including at least 1,000 children under the age of five years.
As 71.7 percent of the reported deaths were caused by violence at least 6,700 Rohingya in the most conservative estimations, are estimated to have been killed, including at least 730 children below the age of 5 years, said the MSF in a press release from its headquarter in Geneva.
The findings of the surveys show that the Rohingya have been targeted, and are the clearest indication yet of the widespread violence that started on August 25 when the Myanmar military, police and local militias launched the latest 'clearance operations' in Rakhine in response to attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.
Since then, more than 647,000 Rohingya have fled from Myanmar into Bangladesh.
"We met and spoke with survivors of violence in Myanmar, who are now sheltering in overcrowded and unsanitary camps in Bangladesh. What we uncovered was staggering, both in terms of the numbers of people who reported a family member died as a result of violence, and the horrific ways in which they said they were killed or severely injured.
The peak in deaths coincides with the launch of the latest 'clearance operations' by Myanmar security forces in the last week of August," said Dr. Sidney Wong, MSF Medical Director.
In early November, MSF conducted six retrospective mortality surveys in different sections of the refugee settlements in Cox's Bazar, just over the border from Myanmar, in Bangladesh.
The total population of the areas covered by the surveys was 608,108 people; 503,698 had fled Myanmar after August 25, and 100,464 were children below the age of five years.
The overall mortality rate between August 25 and September 24 of people in households surveyed was 8.0/10,000 persons per day.
This is equivalent to the death of 2.26 percent (between 1.87 percent and 2.73 percent) of the sampled population.
If this proportion is applied to the total population that had arrived since August 25 in the camps that were covered by the surveys, it would suggest that between 9,425 and 13,759 Rohingya died during the initial 31 days following the start of the violence, including at least 1,000 children below the age of five years.
"The numbers of deaths are likely to be an underestimation as we have not surveyed all refugee settlements in Bangladesh and because the surveys don't account for the families who never made it out of Myanmar," Wong said. "We heard reports of entire families who perished after they were locked inside their homes, while they were set alight.
"Currently people are still fleeing from Myanmar to Bangladesh and those who do manage to cross the border still report being subject to violence in recent weeks," Wong added. "With very few independent aid groups able to access Maungdaw district in Rakhine, we fear for the fate of Rohingya people who are still there."
Consequently, the signing of an agreement for the return of the refugees between the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh is premature.
Rohingya should not be forced to return and their safety and rights need to be guaranteed before any such plans can be seriously considered. (end)
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