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Freedom and Fear in Myanmar

Jonah Fisher travels across Myanmar and into neighbouring Bangladesh to investigate claims that Burmese Muslims have suffered rape and murder at the hands of the military.

Only a year ago, decades of military rule in Myanmar came to an end, as the Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi won elections there. Yet today the security forces stand accused of subjecting the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority to abduction, rape and murder, while Aung San Suu Kyi’s critics say she has remained silent. More than 70,000 Rohingya have now fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, and the United Nations has described their plight as a crime against humanity. For Assignment, Jonah Fisher travels across Myanmar and Bangladesh to investigate the reported abuses, and ask why Aung San Suu Kyi has so far failed to speak out. Has the Burmese national heroine sacrificed her high ideals in pursuit of power?

(Photo: Armed Myanmar army soldiers patrol a village in Maungdaw following attacks by armed militant Muslim. The Burmese military has been accused of committing crimes against humanity towards Myanmar’s Rohingya minority. Credit: Getty images)

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27 minutes

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Thu 23 Mar 2017 21:06GMT

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