Rohingya crisis: UK condemned for continuing Burmese army training amid reports of 'ethnic cleansing'

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice

Britain's government has been criticised for continuing to fund the Burmese military, despite it being accused of "ethnic cleansing" by United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

Deen Mohammed Noori from the Bradford based Arakan Rohingya Organisation said the UK was continuing to provide military training to troops in the country, despite the wave wave of violence that has left hundreds dead, thousands of homes burned, and tens of thousands fleeing to Bangladesh.

Human rights monitors have accused Burmese security forces and Rakhine Buddhist vigilantes of launching campaign of violence, rape and arson aimed at driving out the Muslim population. The violence was said to be in response to attacks by Rohingya insurgents on police posts and an army camp, which killed a dozen people on 25 August.

Burma has rejected allegations of ethnic cleansing, claiming its security forces were carrying out clearance operations to defend against the insurgents of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, which claimed responsibility for the August attacks and similar, smaller raids in October last year.

Members of the military have reportedly been laying landmines along the border to make sure they do not return and mobs of ethnic Rakhines, who are predominantly Buddhist, have reportedly threatened Rohingya, who are predominantly Muslim, to “leave or they will kill them all”.

Mr Noori told the BBC’s Today programme that his organisation had written to Downing Street asking for an end to the programme while the Burmese are killing an ethnic group.

However, Andrew Mitchell, the former International Development Secretary, defended the programme which he said was “at a very early stage”.

He told the programme: “This is a contract for training troops at a very early stage. It is meant to address issues of respect for human rights and the treatment of civilians. This is obviously an absolutely critical area and I think that Britain should get involved in that. It is at a very early stage and we can have some influence then I think that is very important.”

He also criticised Aung San Suu Kyi’s reluctance to condemn the violence, saying as “one of the first European ministers to meet her after she was freed” he was struck by “her enormous moral authority and the reverence with which she is held in Burma” and was very “disturbed” that she was “not using that moral authority to condemn what is effectively ethnic cleansing”.

Ms Suu Kyi delivered an address on Burmese television where she said the country did not fear global “scrutiny”.

She claimed there had been no “clearance operations” since 5 September and “more than half” of Rohingya villages remained intact.

She said she felt “deeply” for the suffering of “all people” in the conflict but said most Rohingya had opted to stay in Burma so the situation could not be as severe as has been alleged.

The Nobel Laureate invited critics to come and see the situation for themselves and said she wanted to speak to Muslims who had stayed and those who had fled to get a better understanding of the crisis.

Although the de facto leader of Burma’s civilian government, Ms Suu Kyi is powerless to oppose the military which still maintains its tight grip on the country’s security and controls the majority of seats in the parliament – making reform impossible without their agreement.

In the hours after the speech, the United Nations announced they would investigating the allegations of ethnic cleansing but the chairman of the fact-finding mission, Marzuki Darusman, said he was concerned about whether his team will be able to get into the country.

The Burmese ambassador to the UN, Htin Lynn, said the investigation was "not a helpful course of action" and said Burma was taking proportionate security measures against terrorists to restore peace.

The Independent has contacted the Ministry of Defence, which manages the programme, for comment.