Ⅳ. Systematic Destruction of the Rohingya People
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security forces carried big and long guns, including machine guns, AK47s, launchers, and rifles.285 Rakhine people, numbering 2050,286 accompanied the security forces, wearing longyi pants and shirts,287 and carrying weapons
including long knives, daggers, kris swords, choppers, axes, spears, and sticks.288 Survivors also reported that the military gave uniforms to the Rakhine people.289
F. Escape to Bangladesh
Ⅴ. Facts from Initial Survey
ornaments that we wore.”292 “On August 27, 2017, my family and I fled from Done Paik and went to Alingarcher. We decided to escape to Bangladesh after the buckshot hit me. We walked through the forest for four days. Four people carried me. We faced many difficulties in our journey to Bangladesh. During the journey, I saw the dead bodies of killed Rohingya floating in the water, with the current taking them away from Tulatoli.”293 “We fled to Bangladesh after security forces burned down all of our homes and killed people in the villages of Tulatoli, Diyoltoli, and Whykhong. I walked through the forest, while carrying my parent who was unable to walk. As we escaped, helicopters flew over
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us. There were many dead bodies and injured people on the way. I saw houses burning in the villages. We crossed the border by boat. We paid to the boat guide 107,000 kyat for 9 persons. I didn’t have so much money, so I borrowed it from others. I’m still paying back that debt to them.”294 “The military was burning down all the houses in Rohingya villages and killing Rohingya in all of our villages. So there was no way to stay there. We had much difficulty in getting to the border. We walked for three days through the forest. I heard guns shooting everywhere. I also saw the atrocities the Myanmar military had committed to Rohingya, including dead bodies like men, women, and children killed on the road and bodies burning in distant villages.”295
Ⅴ. Facts from Initial Survey Rohingyas arrive in Shah Porir Dip, Teknaf, Bangladesh on Oct 14, 2017. © CHO Jinsub
Most Rohingya unwillingly fled to Bangladesh, driven purely by fear for their lives. Many walked for days and had to pay exorbitant amounts of money of 15,000-40,000 kyat per person to cross the water. The survivors witnessed more atrocities as they escaped to safety.291 “I did not want to leave our country. But when I heard that the people of Tulatoli were being killed, then I decided to flee. I thought that security forces would not kill people
anymore, but they were killing us recklessly and indiscriminately. First, we fled from Bou Chor to Zimong Khali, then to Kiamong, then to Shil Khali. We were so hungry. We had no food to eat. When I remember the sorrows and hardships that we had there, I feel tears. We walked for four days through the forest. I saw dead bodies in the forest and injured people who were bleeding. We paid 200,000 to the boat guide. We did not have enough money, so we gave to him all of the gold
The initial survey defines one family as a unit of people who are from Done Paik and who live together in the camp. In the case of Done Paik, the survey covered 779 people in total, 503 men and 276 women. Of those surveyed, there were 6 children 10 years and younger; 86 people between the ages of 11 and 19; 243 people in their 20s; 173 people in their 30s; 95 people in their 40s; 109 people in their 50s; 48 person in their 60s; 17 people in their 70s; and 1 person in their 80s. Based on the initial survey, the number of people who were killed on August 26-27, 2017, amounts to 158. The names of the deceased are attached in the Appendix. Of the deceased, there were
43 children 10 years and younger; 15 people between the ages of 11 and 19; 39 people in their 20s; 20 people in their 30s; 11 people in their 40s; 7 people in their 50s; 1 person in their 60s; 1 person in their 80s; and 2 people of unknown age. Devastatingly, 56 of the deceased were under the age of 18. In addition, almost each and every interviewed person was both a victim of arson and robbery/ looting as well as a witness. Of the total 779 people interviewed, the sole exceptions were a tiny handful of 8 people who were not victims of looting and a single person who was not a victim of arson in Done Paik.