Campaigners from a children’s charity have called for the British government to refer Myanmar’s military to the International Criminal Court for crimes against the Rohingya as the one-year anniversary of the violence which forced more than 700,000 people to flee approaches.
Staging a protest outside parliament in London, international aid charity Save the Children used a 3D installation featuring drawings by Rohingya children. The drawings show horrific attacks the children witnessed before they fled to neighbouring Bangladesh.
The charity is appealing to British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt to use his influence at the United Nations to take action against army generals who carried out atrocities beginning in August 2017 in Rakhine State, home to Myanmar’s Muslim minority population.
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Drawing by Anwara, 11, shows people being killed and their houses being burned. Save the Children -
Drawing by Rozina, 13, shows her family fleeing Myanmar. Her father was shot and one of her uncles died. Two of her younger siblings drowned while crossing the river. Save the Children -
Drawing by Majuma, 12, shows her experience being forced out of Myanmar. Save the Children -
Drawing by Mohammed, 10, a Rohingya refugee who fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh. Save the Children -
Drawing by Rohida, 16, shows her experience of being forced to leave Myanmar. Save the Children -
Drawing by Rafisa, 12, shows the military firing at women and at the houses. Save the Children
“A credible, impartial, and independent investigation into these crimes and all violations of children’s rights committed in northern Rakhine State is a key first step towards ensuring accountability,” said George Graham, Save the Children’s Director of Humanitarian Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns.
Myanmar’s military stands accused of burning Rohingya villages and carrying out extrajudicial killings.
The UN has described the military campaign against the Rohingya as "textbook ethnic cleansing".
Myanmar denies carrying out atrocities in Rakhine State, where charities, activists and journalists have documented widespread cases of murder, rape and arson.
More than 6,000 children in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, the world’s fastest growing refugee camp in Bangladesh, without their parents.
Save the Children estimate that one in two children who fled to the camp were orphaned in the military crackdown against the country’s Muslim minority population.
Aid charities have warned conditions in the camp are at breaking point, with refugees at risk from floods, disease and food shortages.
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Read more:
‘Lost generation’ looms for Rohingya refugee children without education
WATCH: The Rohingya living in exile, trapped in the forests of Bangladesh
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