Crackdown could radicalise Rohingya

The US government, a key sponsor of Myanmar's democratic transition, says a security crackdown that has displaced tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims and left an unknown number dead risks radicalising a downtrodden people and stoking religious tensions in Southeast Asia.

The military moved in after armed attacks by unknown assailants on police posts along the border with Bangladesh in October. The attacks in Rakhine State were a possible sign that a small number of Rohingya were starting to fight back against persecution by majority Buddhists who view them as illegal immigrants although many have lived in Myanmar for generations.

The top US diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Russel, is critical of the military's heavy-handed approach and says the escalation of violence risks inciting jihadist extremism in the country also known as Burma. He is also calling on neighbouring countries, such as Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia, to resist the urge to stage protests that could further stir religious passions.

Assistant Secretary of State Russel told The Associated Press that, "if mishandled, Rakhine State could be infected and infested by jihadism which already plagues neighbouring Bangladesh and other countries."

The plight of the Rohingya, once characterised by the UN as the world's most friendless people, has attracted the attention of Muslim extremists since a spike in inter-communal violence in Rakhine in 2012 that left hundreds dead and forced more than 100,000 into squalid camps.

Meanwhile, Malaysia accused Myanmar of engaging in the "ethnic cleansing" of its Rohingya minority yesterday, as former UN chief Kofi Annan visited a burned out village in strife-torn Rakhine state.

"The fact that only one particular ethnicity is being driven out is by definition ethnic cleansing," Malaysia's foreign ministry said in an unusually strongly-worded statement.

Myanmar has balked at such criticism, saying the Rakhine crisis is an internal issue -- but international pressure on the country is mounting.

Malaysia's statement noted that hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled to neighbouring countries in recent years -- including some 56,000 to Muslim-majority Malaysia.

That, the statement said, "makes this matter no longer an internal matter but an international matter".

A convoy carrying the former UN chief arrived outside the Rohingya village of Wapeik yesterday morning, which has seen significant damage from fire.

Non state media journalists were stopped by police from coming close to the convoy or entering the village, an AFP photographer at the scene said.

Annan is not expected to brief the media until Tuesday -- after his visit to Rakhine ends.

Myanmar has restricted access to the northern part of the state and says its military is hunting down the militants behind the attacks.

But rights groups and Rohingya refugees who have made it to Bangladesh have accused the military of killing civilians and razing entire villages as a form of collective punishment.

The Rohingya have long faced persecution and government restrictions on movement that many have likened to apartheid.

Much of Myanmar views the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh even though many have lived there for generations.