Rohingya Muslim survives after playing dead for days

By Busra Nur Ozcan

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AA) - Muhammad Fayyaz, a Rohingya Muslim, survived after playing dead for days.

The 25-year-old teacher hid between the bodies of his family members killed by Myanmar's military and Buddhist mobs, last month.

He is among the 617,500 Rohingya Muslims, according to the UN, who crossed into Bangladesh since Aug. 25, as violence escalated in bordering Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

The refugees are fleeing a military operation in which security forces and Buddhist mobs have killed men, women and children, looted homes and torched Rohingya villages.

Fayyaz, who worked as a translator for Turkey-based Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) in Bangladesh, said he waited for several days until the Myanmar military left his village and then walked through the forests for 13 days to reach Bangladesh.

“Make our voices heard in the world, shout out that we exist and look out for us, we are the orphans of the Ummah, we are unprotected," he told Anadolu Agency.

"Our houses are set on fire while we are inside. The mosques are set on fire with the worshipers [praying] inside. Humans are getting hunted in the forests and lands. Soldiers [of Myanmar Army] and mobs are brutally murdering thousands of people,” he added.

Halil Asa, the group leader of IHH’s Bangladesh operation, said Fayyaz's account was "very painful".

"You can tell from his eyes the whole burden of the pain and suffering he went through," he said.

Asa stated that the organization donated 300 pencils and notebooks to Fayyaz, after he asked for help to teach 30 children in the camp.

"He is trying to save the future of these children," Asa said.

Speaking about the living condition at the camps, he said, they were overcrowded.

The IHH has set up three health centers -- two in Bangladesh and one in Myanmar -- and built 50 toilets.

The foundation also built temporary shelters for 450 families and 130 water wells.

The UN has accused Myanmar of allowing its security forces to engage in ethnic cleansing against Rohingya Muslims.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

The UN has documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by security personnel.

In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.