Authorities in Myanmar torture and detain Rohingya refugees who come back to the country from Bangladesh, Human Rights Watch said in a release on Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st August, 2018) Authorities in Myanmar torture and detain Rohingya refugees who come back to the country from Bangladesh, Human Rights Watch said in a release on Tuesday.
"Myanmar authorities have tortured and imprisoned Rohingya refugees who returned to Rakhine State from Bangladesh," the release said. "The mistreatment reinforces the need for international protection, including United Nations monitors on the ground, before Rohingya will be able to return safely to Myanmar."
The watchdog said it documented the cases of six Rohingya refugees who fled the country in 2017 and were apprehended by border guard police when they returned to Rakhine State.
"Security forces tortured them during pretrial detention, they said. Each was summarily tried and sentenced to four years in prison, apparently for illegally crossing the border," HRW noted.
The watchdog added that three Rohingya men and three boys said BGP officers "repeatedly interrogated them at gunpoint about the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) militant group."
"The officers used stress positions; beatings with fists, sticks, and rods; and burning and electric shock to force them to confess to an affiliation with ARSA," the watchdog said. "They said that while detained, they received inadequate clean water and food."
Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar, have been fleeing their homes to avoid waves of violence following the government's deployment of police and military units in response to an attack by Rohingya insurgents on security posts in the Rakhine State. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), nearly 700,000 Rohingyas have left the country for Bangladesh since last August for the fear of persecution.
