Rohingya rebels declare one-month Myanmar ceasefire

Yangon: Rohingya militants, whose August 25 raids in Myanmar’s Rakhine State sparked an army crackdown that has seen nearly 300,000 of the Muslim minority flee to Bangladesh, on Sunday declared an immediate unilateral one-month ceasefire.

Bedraggled and exhausted Rohingya refugees have arrived in huge numbers in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar area for over two weeks, while tens of thousands more are believed to be on the move inside Rakhine, many in desperate conditions after more than a fortnight without shelter, food and water.

A further 27,000 ethnic Rakhine Buddhists as well as Hindus have also been displaced by violence that has unfurled across the northern part of the State.

“The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) hereby declares a temporary cessation of offensive military operations,” it said in a statement on its Twitter handle @ARSA_Official, adding it was to allow for humanitarian aid to reach the battered region.

The group urged “all humanitarian actors” to resume aid delivery to “all victims of humanitarian crisis irrespective of ethnic or religious background” during the ceasefire period which runs until October 9.



It called on Myanmar to “reciprocate this humanitarian pause” in fighting.          

There was no immediate response from Myanmar’s military.          

Rohingya refugees allege “clearance operations” by the army in its offensives against the ARSA resulted in mass killings and the burning of hundreds of villages, sending them across the border. International aid programmes in Rakhine have been severely curtailed, as the fighting engulfed parts of the State.                     

On Saturday the UN said a total of 290,000 had crossed into Bangladesh after days-long treks or by boat, joining already overcrowded camps of Rohingya who have fled Myanmar over decades of troubles.          

The UN has appealed for urgent donations of $77 million to provide for the influx of Rohingya which has put a “massive strain” on existing camps.          

Bangladesh already hosts around 400,000 Rohingya from previous crises.