Reports emerged overnight over a new wave of attacks on Aung Mingla village of Sittwe in Burma. The Rohingya majority village was first surveilled by army and then later surrounded by a large gathering of Rakhine community leaders and monks at around 2pm on Friday 28th Septmeber.

Our sources first reported of minor scuffles and arguments at around 4pm (GMT) on Friday and these later materialised to be more serious. Initially, a Rakhine ice cream vendor had reported that one of the boys who assists him had gone missing in the village of Aung Mingla as he was looking for custom at around 2pm local time. Following some arguments, the Rakhine man complained of his missing boy to the army who were in the area. The army repeatedly asked for the Rakhine man who had now been joined by tens of other Rakhines to move away from the area whilst they conducted a search. Having not found the boy, at 4pm local time, the army generals announced that their investigation had now been called off and that they would no longer continue on this case and called for the Rakhine to not begin another stand-off with the Rohingya.

Not satisfied with this decision, as night fell on Aung Mingla, hundreds of Rakhine and monks armed with swords surrounded the village and began hurling abuse and slurs at the Rohingya. The Rakhine then began to systematically search and intimidate every household in the village. On completion, Rakhine leaders announced to the village that the missing boy had been found and had been moved away for his safety. Not showing the missing boy, Rakhine leaders then began to force out Rohingya from the village telling them that the land belongs to Rakhine and not Rohingya and that as President Thein Sein has said, that there is no place for the Rohingya in Burma. This morning, it is thought that as many as 500 Rohingya have ben displaced as a result of this latest clash.

Earlier this week sources from Rangoon, Maungdaw and Sittwe had reported that a major conference between the leaders and monks of 17 Rakhine villages and townships across Arakan state had taken place with the focal agenda point being the removal of Rohingya from Arakan, Burma.

In a separate report, five sources have also reported a similar scenario taking place today in Maungdaw township. More information will follow.