Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army

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Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (abbr .: ARSA , formerly Harakah al-Yaqin ) is a separatist - Islamist rebel group of ethno-religious minority Rohingya responsible for the secession of the Rakhine State of Myanmar of its own and the establishment of independent state on the basis the Sharia fights.

background

The term Rohingya is the official name for the Muslim minority in the majority Buddhist state of Myanmar . There they mostly live in the Rakhine state. The Myanmar government does not recognize them as an autochthonous minority, but considers them illegal Bangladeshi immigrants , even though the vast majority of them have lived in Myanmar for several generations. They are denied naturalization and the right to vote. Bangladesh , on the other hand, regards the Rohingya as a Burmese minority and rejects them as well.

The forerunners of the ARSA already existed in 2012 and were largely radical Islamic groups. In 2013, ARSA members armed with bamboo spears and iron poles patrolled Rohingya villages to make sure that all villagers participated in the prayers in the mosques .

Anti-Muslim riots in 2012 killed over 200 people and displaced around 120,000 Rohingya people. According to Zachary Abuza ( Radio Free Asia ), the international community tolerated this discrimination and oppression of the Muslim minority because they wanted to strengthen the democratic government of Aung San Suu Kyi and therefore accepted the situation.

The Rohingya were also not allowed to vote in the 2015 general election. This sparked great dissatisfaction and hostility towards the Buddhist majority among many Rohingya.

history

founding

According to the International Crisis Group (ICG), the ARSA was founded in 2016 by at least twenty Rohingya who were in exile in Saudi Arabia . Attullah Abu Amar Jununi, a Pakistani- born Rohingya who grew up in Mecca, is considered to be the leader of the group . Jununi and other members are said to have completed military training in Pakistan and Afghanistan and were funded by donors from Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries . The group was formed in 2013 under the name Harakah al-Yaqin and finally merged with the ARSA in October 2016.

Rohingya riots since 2016

Jununi and other members returned to Myanmar in 2016. In October 2016, ARSA fighters armed with machetes and other simple weapons ambushed police stations in Myanmar and killed nine police officers. State security forces then cracked down on in several raids. This led to ongoing clashes between the Burmese military Tatmadaw and the insurgents, in which more people were killed.

Like the ARSA, the Tatmadaw are accused of human rights violations . Rohingya are said to have been raped, tortured and murdered and their villages burned down. The ARSA killed over 100 Hindus, kidnapped some Hindu men and forced them to convert to Islam. The ARSA also forced converted Hindus to blame the Buddhists. The clashes led to the flight of 80,000 Rohingya to Bangladesh by August 2017. The UN later assumed 290,000 people were fleeing.

At the end of August 2017, there was another serious attack by the ARSA on over 20 police posts and the military's reactions increased. At least 89 people died in the attacks. 150 ARSA fighters were involved in the clashes in the Rakhine state .

On September 9, 2017, the ARSA declared a unilateral ceasefire for one month from now on. According to the announcement, this should enable the aid deliveries to be made to the needy people in Rakhine State.

Amnesty International stated on May 22, 2018 that the ARSA killed and tortured over 100 people of Hindu faith in 2017 alone.

ARSA fighters attacked the police stations in Kyaung Taung, Kahtee Hla, Gotepi and Nga Myin Taw near Buthidaung in northern Maungdaw district on January 4, 2019. At least 13 police officers are killed.

aims

At the beginning of September 2017 Jununi explained in a video: "Our first goal with ARSA is to free our people from the inhuman oppression that has been carried out by all Burmese regimes." The attacks are the reaction of Myanmar's government to the treatment of the Rohingya and the blockade of their villages . He called on the international aid organizations to remain in the region after they had previously started to withdraw all staff that were not urgently needed.

The aim of the ARSA is the establishment of an independent Islamic state .

rating

The government of Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi describes the ARSA fighters as "extremist Bengali terrorists". Some politicians accuse the organization of wanting to establish an Islamic State .

References and comments

  1. ↑ Hermes: Pakistan-born leader of Arsa militants trained in modern guerilla warfare . In: The Straits Times . September 11, 2017 ( straitstimes.com [accessed August 15, 2018]).
  2. ↑ An army crackdown sends thousands of fleeing in Myanmar . In: The Economist . August 31, 2017 ( economist.com [accessed August 15, 2018]).
  3. ↑ Udo Schmidt: Rohingyas in Myanmar - Persecuted, expelled, condemned to do nothing. In: Deutschlandfunk online. July 29, 2015, accessed September 5, 2017 .
  4. ↑ a b c d Zachary Abuza: Who Are the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army? In: rfa.org. September 1, 2017, accessed September 5, 2017 .
  5. ↑ a b That is behind the wave of violence in Myanmar. In: 20 minutes online. September 2, 2017. Retrieved September 5, 2017 .
  6. ↑ F.Edroos: ARSA: Who are the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army? Al Jazeera, September 13, 2017, accessed January 9, 2018 .
  7. ↑ ARSA. (No longer available online.) USDP Conflict Data Program, archived from the original on August 29, 2017 ; accessed on January 9, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ucdp.uu.se
  8. ↑ a b Myanmar: Who are the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army? In: BBC online. September 6, 2017, accessed September 6, 2017 .
  9. ↑ KYODO NEWS: Death toll tops 100 in Myanmar's Rakhine as bloodshed continues . In: Kyodo News + . August 27, 2017 ( kyodonews.net [accessed August 15, 2018]).
  10. ↑ Mass grave of 28 Hindus found in Myanmar: army . September 24, 2017 ( yahoo.com [accessed August 15, 2018]).
  11. ↑ 'Mass Hindu grave' found in Myanmar . In: BBC News . September 25, 2017 ( bbc.co.uk [accessed August 15, 2018]).
  12. ↑ a b Myanmar: Rohingya rebels call for a ceasefire. In: Zeit Online . September 10, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Burma: 89 dead in attack by Rohingya rebels on border posts. In: Spiegel Online . August 25, 2017. Retrieved September 9, 2017 .
  14. ↑ Machetes vs machine guns: Rohingya salvation army outgunned in Myanmar. In: The Express Tribune. September 6, 2017, accessed September 9, 2017 .
  15. ↑ hermes auto: Rohingya militants massacred Hindus: Amnesty International report . In: The Straits Times . May 23, 2018 ( straitstimes.com [accessed August 15, 2018]).
  16. ↑ Amnesty: Rohingya fighters killed scores of Hindus in Myanmar. Retrieved August 15, 2018 .
  17. ↑ Myanmar: New evidence reveals Rohingya armed group massacred scores in Rakhine State. Retrieved August 15, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Rakhine Insurgents Kill 13 Policemen, Injure Nine Others in Myanmar Outpost Attacks. In: rfa.org. Retrieved January 4, 2019 (de-EN).
  19. ↑ Liam Cochrane: Rohingya militant group warns of 'war' against Myanmar Government. In: ABC News Online. August 28, 2017, accessed September 5, 2017 .
  20. ↑ The truth behind Myanmar's Rohingya insurgency . 2017 ( atimes.com [accessed August 15, 2018]).
  21. ↑ Hermes: Pakistan-born leader of Arsa militants trained in modern guerilla warfare . In: The Straits Times . September 11, 2017 ( straitstimes.com [accessed August 15, 2018]).