Thailand: Hundreds protests violence against Rohingya

By Arun Saronchai

BANGKOK

Around 200 people gathered in front of Myanmar's embassy in downtown Bangkok on Friday to protest violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

Some shouted their support for Rohingya, while others wore shirts emblazoned with slogans calling for action in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine State, where anywhere between 86 and 500 people have died amid military operations launched after fatal attacks on police stations last month.

“We want them to stop killing our brothers and sisters in Myanmar," the secretary general of the Rohingya Thailand Group told Anadolu Agency,

"Stop the genocide now," HJ Ismail demanded.

Many of those taking part wore the Thai script for the number 9 in remembrance of recently deceased King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the ninth monarch of Thailand's Chakri Dynasty.

Similar events also took place outside Myanmar embassies in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

Over the past six weeks, rights groups have expressed concern over reports of killings, rapes, arbitrary arrests and other violations in villages predominantly inhabited by Rohingya in Rakhine amid military operations that followed the Oct. 9 attacks.

They have called for independent investigations into the initial attacks, the ongoing operations and reported rights abuses in the area.

Since Oct. 9, Myanmar has said that at least 86 people -- 17 soldiers and 69 alleged "attackers" (among them two women) -- were killed, and property was destroyed in northern Rakhine.

Rohingya groups, however, claim that the number killed in one weekend alone earlier this month could be as high as 150 civilians.

There has been no independent verification of the attacks or arrests as access to the affected area near the Bangladesh border has been under Myanmar military control since the initial attacks.