Mob burns down mosque in Burma

The attackers, who were “wielding sticks, knives and other weapons”, overwhelmed security forces before burning the temple down, according to state-owned Global New Light of Myanmar.

The interior of a destroyed mosque is seen after a group of men attack it in the first serious outburst of inter-religious violence in months in the village of Thayethamin outside Yangon, Myanmar June 24, 2016.

“The problem started because the mosque was built near a [Buddhist] pagoda”.

Almost 100 police guarded the village after the incident.

That incident came eight days after another crowd of Buddhists destroyed another mosque in central Bago, forcing the Muslim community to seek refuge in a neighboring town. There were reports of a Muslim man being attacked.

Lee, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, told reporters that the recent establishment of the Central Committee on Implementation of Peace, Stability and Development of Rakhine State signals the government’s priority of addressing the complex challenges that both Buddhist and minority Muslim communities are facing.

Lee urged the country’s new government to make ending “institutionalized discrimination against Muslim communities in state… an urgent priority”.

Myanmar’s bitterly-divided Rakhine State saw mass protests Sunday, July 3, as thousands of Buddhists, including monks, demonstrated in a show of opposition to a government edict referring to Muslim communities in the restive province, organizers told Agence France-Presse.

This volatile atmosphere poses serious challenges for Aung San Suu Kyi’s new government.

Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee, ending a two-week mission to the country formerly known as Burma, told reporters Friday that “such restrictions severely affect all aspects of life, including access to basic services and livelihoods”.

Tensions have also been running high in western Rakhine, a state scarred by deadly riots in 2012 that left communities nearly completely divided along religious lines.

Human-rights groups have criticized Suu Kyi for failing to act decisively against the Buddhist extremists encouraging the attacks.

About 1.1 million people are illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh and about 140,000 people – mostly Rohingyas – have been living in camps in Rakhine during a clash between the majority Buddhists and Rohingyas in 2012.

Incidents of hate speech, discrimination, hatred, violence and religious intolerance were a cause for concern, she said.

He said the mob attacked police officers guarding the site and stopped the fire engine from reaching it. Police have not arrested anyone involved.

“It is vital that the government take prompt action, including by conducting thorough investigations and holding perpetrators to account. This is precisely the wrong signal to send”, she said, referring to the June 23 mosque-demolishing.