UN: Myanmar Buddhists killed more than 40 Muslims

January 24, 2014 - The United Nations has confirmed that more than 40 Muslims appear to have been killed when Buddhist mobs attacked a village in an isolated corner of western Myanmar, a massacre that has been the vehemently denied by the government since it was first reported by The Associated Press just over a week ago. The U.N. released a statement late Thursday saying its investigation confirmed that at least 48 people had been killed in two separate bouts of violence in Du Chee Yar Tan village in northern Rakhine state. “I deplore the loss of life in Du Chee Yar Tan and call on the authorities to carry out a full, prompt and impartial investigation and ensure that victims and their families receive justice,'' said Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. “By responding to these incidents quickly and decisively, the government has an opportunity to show transparency and accountability, which will strengthen democracy and the rule of law in Myanmar,'' she added. The violence appears to be the deadliest in a year, and would bring the total number of mostly Muslims killed in violence nationwide to more than 280. Another 250,000 people have fled their homes.

Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation of 60 million people, has been grappling with sectarian violence since June 2012. Northern Rakhine state - home to 80 percent of the country's 1 million long-persecuted Muslim Rohingya population - is off-limits to foreign journalists and humanitarian aid workers have limited access, adding to the difficulties of confirming details about the violence. Attacks began Jan. 9 and peaked in the early hours of Jan. 14, according to residents. There are around 1 million Rohingya in Myanmar. The United Nations has called them one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.

Buddhist Rakhine mobs, seeking retaliation for the abduction and killing of a police officer by Rohingya villagers, entered under the cloak of darkness with knives, sticks and guns and went on a killing spree, residents in the area told the AP on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals. Many of the victims were women and children, hacked to death by the mobs, they said. The humanitarian aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, said it has treated 22 patients, some with wounds It appealed to the government for safe access to the affected populations, many of whom are still in hiding. Some of the Rohingya are descended from families that have been there for generations. Others arrived more recently from neighboring Bangladesh. All have been denied citizenship, rendering them stateless. (Source: AP)