Ten aid workers held in Burma,
Ten aid workers including some United Nations staff have been
detained in western Burma following deadly communal unrest, the UN says.
IN a bulletin on the situation in violence-wracked Rakhine state, the
UN said on Friday that humanitarian staff had been held for
"questioning" - adding that Burma's government had failed to respond to
queries about those detained.
More than 80 people were killed in a
wave of communal violence between ethnic Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim
Rohingya which swept the state in June, forcing tens of thousands to
flee as homes were torched and communities ripped apart.
"At the moment, some 10 UN and INGO (international non-government
organisation) staff are kept in custody by the authorities of Rakhine
state for questioning," said a statement from the UN's humanitarian
agency, OCHA.
The UN said it had "reported to government the situation on several
occasions and has requested the government for information about each
detained staff member".Six local staff from Medecins Sans
Frontieres were among those held, MSF confirmed in a statement to AFP on
Friday, although one has since been released.
"We do not have
full information on the reasons," MSF said. The medical charity
temporarily suspended activities and reduced staff last month in its
Rakhine state projects.
Although security forces have quelled the
worst of the unrest, tens of thousands of people remain in
government-run relief camps with the UN's World Food Program reporting
that it had provided food to some 100,000 people.
Ten Muslims were
killed on June 3 by a Buddhist mob seeking revenge for the rape and
murder of a local woman - the apparent spark for the unrest.
Both sides have accused each other of violent attacks.
A
state of emergency is still in force over several areas and Human
Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday alleged that some within Burma's security
forces had carried out "mass round-ups" and other abuses on Muslim
communities.
"While the Burmese army has largely contained the
sectarian violence, abuses by security forces against Rohingya
communities appear to be on the upsurge in recent weeks," HRW said.
"The
mass arrests ongoing in northern Arakan (Rakhine) state seem to be
discriminatory, as the authorities in these townships do not appear to
be investigating or apprehending Arakan suspected of criminal offences."
Decades
of discrimination have left the Muslim Rohingya stateless and viewed by
the UN as among the world's most persecuted minorities.
