Exclusive report: Burma in denial over Rohingya crisis
Burma’s northern Rakhine state is on lockdown. In recent weeks, violence has forced hundreds of thousands of minority Muslim Rohingyas to flee to Bangladesh. one of our regional correspondent Clovis Casali was one of the few journalists able to enter Rakhine state, where he met terrified members of the Rohingya community. He brings us rare footage from on the ground.On August 25, Rohingya fighters from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacked police stations, provoking an immediate and deadly response from the Burmese army. Burma claims that its operations were simply aimed at tracking down “terrorists”, but NGOs and the UN consider it to be pursuing an “ethnic cleansing” campaign. Some have even accused Burma of genocide.After weeks of negotiations with the authorities, our regional correspondent, Clovis Casali, was authorised to follow the army on a rare visit to an area devastated by the fighting.In Rohingya villages, many are starving because access to Rakhine state has been cut off. On the beaches, hundreds are desperately trying to leave the country by crossing the Naf River. In this exclusive report, we take you to meet the Muslim ethnic group considered one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.
