Yesterday night at around 7:50 PM, violence broke out in the main municipal market of Maungdaw, Arakan. Rakhine Buddhist burned 7 shops belonging to Muslims and another 12 were looted; all taking place whilst the Rohingya were home-bound because of their strict curfew, leaving them defenceless as the Rakhine destroyed their main source of livelihood.

A couple of hours later (9:30 PM), just around three miles away in Myo Thu Gyi, Rakhine Buddhists torched a mosque which is said to be one of the oldest Mosques left standing in Arakan from the early 19th century called ‘Hakim Ali’.

These attacks comes just days after the news of the U.N resolution, which urged Myanmar to grant citizenship to the (link /projects/rohingya text:Rohingya) and to take measures against the increasing violence. As expected, Myanmar rejected the U.N resolution and instead has allowed the violence to continue, showing little sign of peace or equality to be on the states agenda.

The Rohingya are left in a state of fear at all times, knowing that their lives are at the mercy of the Rakhine Buddhists who can attack without accountability. Miles away from Arakan, in Yangon (central Myanmar) the fear spreads as rumours of an impending surge of violence will resurface as a result of the U.N Resolution.

Mohammad Khan who lives in Yangon told us:

We are in a volatile situation, the resolution has left the Buddhists angry and they will have nationwide demonstrations putting our lives at risk, the government is allowing this to happen.

We will bring you updates of the situation both in Arakan and central Myanmar as and when it happens.

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