ARAKAN -15 Rohingya villages in MinPya severely affected by the calamities of flood and cyclone, which devastated properties of the locals including cattle, rice, etc, but losses are in higher ratio among the Rohingya population.

Flood victims were on mountain tops for shelter, where they were in hunger and thirst. Although water level has dropped but the areas are still muddy up to 3-4 feet. No Authorities were sent there for inspection and rescue the Rohingya.

In MinPya and Kyauktaw, 50000 Rohingya are in urgent need of rice, water and medical assistance for children and aged. Moreover 600 Rohingyas urgently need shelters.

Even in this critical situation Rakhine Authority in only concerned about the aids and protection of Rakhine people. Up till now no aids have reached the helpless Rohingyas in affected areas.

In Kyauktaw Floods and cyclone destroyed 100s of Rohingya’s houses including their properties like cattles, rice, and other households.In another 9 villages, more than 1000 houses were also destroyed by the floods and strong wind.

A Rohingya lady, Nur Ajiza from Pauktaw Palaung of Kyauktaw died. In Lama Ywa of MinPya, two boys and a lady are still missing. Many people were injured while moving to the safe shelters.

Some houses which are two stories had some rice remained which they cooked to feed people once in the whole day as they do not have enough rice for two times.

ANOTHER HEARTBREAKING STORY

Two brothers, sons of Muhammad Jalil, one ten years old Rashid and another 15 years old Rafique, from Sakkya Ywa of Min Pya.

They went out of their houses when the water level was 4 feet high, holding each other. Than they slipped into the drain of roadside and floated away until they both grasped a small tree, they both held the tree for 2 hours.

Rafique told his brother to move another place as speed of water became stronger, Rashid warned not to move. Rafique didn’t listen to his younger brother and left. Rashid holding the tree remained there another three hours.

When he saw a boat of Rakhine, he shouted for help but they didn’t care. One hour later, Rashid father with another two Rohingya on a boat reached to Rashid and saved him. Rafique is still missing, they couldn’t find him.

Maungdaw, Arakan State — A tropical cyclone that hit Arakan coastal areas yesterday has been getting powerful with every passing hour, causing devastative floods and damaging homes. 

The storm has been sustaining with gust over at a speed of 100 Kilometers per hour and getting stronger since it blew in yesterday. It has damaged homes; been blowing away the roofs of the homes; causing floods submerging homes and structures; and knocking out electricity power plants and trees and more.

It has hit the townships such as Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Kyauktaw, Punna Gyun, Minbya, Mrauk-U (Patthar Killa), Pauktaw,  Kyaukphyu and Sittwe (Akyab). Literally it is blowing all over Arakan coastal areas.

The shelters of the Internally Displaced People (IDP) at the camps in Sittwe and Pauktaw and in other places have been being submerged in the rising floods, blown over or destroyed. They are hardly receiving aids or shelters from the government rescue teams.

[Some strong winds and heavy rains began to cause floods in some of the above-mentioned townships of Arakan state earlier.]

The cyclone named ‘Komen’ has not only hit Myanmar’s coastal areas including Arakan but also hit the south-eastern coastal areas of Bangladesh.

The aftermaths of the storm may prove too destructive for the violence-hit Rohingyas who are already in a dire situation since the state-sponsored violence began in June 2012.

Update: Three people have been reported to have been missing in ‘Alay Than Kyaw- Kayin Tan’ village (Haisshurata Gojjondia) in southern Maungdaw, one has reportedly died.

Reports say that three Students and one teacher were severely injured after getting stuck in the school structure destroyed by the storm at ‘Thayet Oak (Maangala)’ village in northern Maungdaw. One of the three injured students later died in the Maungdaw General Hospital.

A pregnant Rohingya woman was killed by the Rakhine nurses in Maungdaw General Hospital last Wednesday, according to the reliable sources.

 The victim is identified to be Noor Haba Sayed Anwar, 20, from ‘Wachcha’ village in southern Maungdaw.  She was admitted to the Maungdaw General Hospital for having heavy bleeding at the stage of her 8th Month Pregnancy.

“Noor Haba, preganant for eight months, was having heavy bleeding. Therefore, she was admitted to ‘Haishshu Rata (Alay Than Kyaw) Hospital on June 14 for treatment. As she was getting more serious, the hospital transferred to Maungdaw Genral Hospital around 3:00PM on June 16.

At around 3:30PM, she was taken into the emergency operation theatre. Soon, her family members waiting outside the theatre heard heavy screaming of the patient out of pain. Soon after, the nurses and the hospital authorities came out of the theatre only to hand over the dead body of the patient” said an elderly Rohingya who witnessed the incident.

“The dead body was taken back to her village afterwards. While some women were giving her shower for funeral, they found a small steel SCISSOR stuck insid her private part.

Therefore, her family members firmly believe that the doctor and the nurses carried out the surgery without giving her anaesthetic drugs and later, purportedly killed her.

The Rakhine extremists in authority are misusing their positions to serve their political interests and to commit crimes” he continued.

The doctor-in-charge of the hospital, Dr. Kyaw Maung Maung Thein, is himself a Rakhine extremist. He is notorious for killing several Rohingya patients earlier.

A Myanmar’s military truck smashed into a Rohingya man, in Maungdaw Township yesterday, killing him a few hours later, an eyewitness said.

The Rohingya man is identified to be Mv Khairul Abdur Rahim, a religious scholar, hails from ‘Dudan (Luu daing)’ village in northern Maungdaw.

The incident took place in Boli Bazaar (Kyein Chaung) village around yesterday afternoon.

He got badly injured by the truck smashing into him. All over his body! Especially, his legs got swallowed. The military admitted him to ‘Kyein Chaung’ hospital but after that, he passed away on his way while he was being taken to Bangladesh for treatment.

Please pray for him” the eyewitness said.

“This is a case of negligence and rash driving by the driver of the military truck at a public place where people always remain crowded” he continued.

He was given funeral and buried according to Islamic Law this afternoon after the Friday prayer.

As the monsoon in Myanmar has begun, the woes of the state-sponsored violence-hit Rohingyas including the internally displaced people (IDP) have started to get worse, the local reports.

Most of the Rohingyas in Arakan state nowadays are living under genocide blockage since June 2012. Most of them are rendered jobless and do not ample amount of food to eat. They hardly have access to public healthcare facilities.

On the other hand, many of them, in IDP Camps as well as in other parts of the state, find difficult to stay in their homes. They are simply unable to thatch their homes even by means of using traditional ‘Nipa Palm’ for thatching resulting in leakage of rains from the roofs. Consequently, many children are affected by coughts, heavy cold and fever etc. These kinds of cases are rampant in Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya and Rathedaung Townships etc.

For example, many Rohingya villages in Kyauktaw Township — such as Pauktaw Palin, Haimfara or Rohingya Ywa, Apaukwa Gyi, Apaukwa Nge, Ambaari, Shwe Hlaing, Milipaung, Kaungdouk, Pisi Paikthay Ywa, Middle Yadanapun, South Radanapon, Naypukan, Pauktawli, Lasaung Kauk etc – were either partially or full burnt down by the state-sponsored extremists after June 2012. Thousands of people subsequently became internally displaced (IDP). International NGOs have provided them with make shift tents and rice.

But recently, police officers, firemen, and security forces led by the Kyauktaw Township Administrator arrived at the IDP Camps and bulldozed their camps promising that they would assist them (i.e. the IDP) Kyat 1,000,000 per family to build home. However, sadly, their hope and trust on the authorities have been shattered as the authorities have never shown a sign of fulfilling their promise. Now, they are facing a miserable situation as they have to live in their self-made fragile tents made of tarpaulin and plastics.

 Similarly, Ali Akhbar, a Rohingya living in desperate condition at Zaydi Pyin village in Rathedaung, said “we have been suffering from hunger, diseases and persecution since 2012. The World knows our situation.  We have no right to livelihood to earn money for our survival. I don’t know when we will be freed from this open jail called Arakan where even food is not provided. I wish it were hit by a horrible storm and destroy all. Indeed, for us, here, death might be easier than this life.”

In Sittwe (Akyab) as well, the daily survival for the Rohingyas are getting extremely difficult as the monsoon has started as well as the Holy Month, Ramadhan, has begun. The Rohingyas people locked within Aung Min Galar Quarter since June 2012 urgently need food rations and medical assistances. Likewise, the villagers and IDP in In Thandawli, Anauk Sanpya (Baaspara), Say Tha Mar, Ohndaw Gyi etc are urgently in need of food rations.

Of them, the internally displaced people (from Pauktaw Township) living unregistered at ‘Say Tha Mar’ IDP Camps in Sittwe are suffering from the worst form of food crisis. Almost all of them are facing starvation due to lack of access to livelihoods in the rainy season and aids from international aids agencies and organizations. 

Approximately, 400,000 people are suffering from starvation or food crisis. Some INGOs are providing assistances to them but helping such a huge number of people is simply out of their capacity. Worse, there are still many restrictions by the authorities on Humanitarian Workers, INGOs, Reporters and Journalists.