A/HRC/39/CRP.2 The arduous journey: more deaths and hardship 984. The “clearance operations” forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee and walk for days, or even weeks, through forests and over mountains, to reach Bangladesh. On this journey, many more died or were killed or injured. There was minimum shelter, with people having to sleep in the open, and little food or water. 985. Tatmadaw soldiers shot at groups of Rohingya who were en route.2212 At times, these attacks occurred in villages that were already burned, where fleeing Rohingya were seeking refuge on their journey.2213 At other times, attacks took place in forested areas or when Rohingya were forced into the open, for example when crossing rivers. 2214 One woman from Chin Tha Mar village tract, Buthidaung Township, described how, after walking for two days, she and her group were near a river crossing when soldiers opened fire at people as they were crossing. She saw two people shot. 2215 Another man recounted how he and his family were awaiting a boat to carry them across a river. A group of soldiers and police opened fire at a boat carrying people across, killing four of the passengers. 2216 986. Many dead bodies sighted on the journey exhibited bullet or stab wounds. There appear to have been violent attacks at passes in the mountain ranges, most notably in the “Fati Yaar Dala” range, separating the north of Buthidaung from northern Maungdaw Township. Although the Mission was not able to verify the circumstances of these killings, it received accounts of many Rohingya corpses indicating death from violent injuries. This included persons with slit throats and others with bullet wounds. 2217 Witnesses spoke of there being piles of bodies and a row of severed heads.2218 As one man recounted: There were a lot of bodies in the hill near to Fati Yaar. I think there were more than 50 bodies. We saw them in a place where there were many bags of abandoned rice and other possessions. People appeared to have been gathering there when they were killed.2219 987. Other villagers saw numerous bodies in another nearby mountain pass, the “Lobboi Dala”, which was near Pa Da Kar Day War Nar Li/Net Chaung village tract in Maungdaw Township.2220 One man described his journey through these mountains: I crossed Fati Yaar Dala. There I saw dead bodies, including women, and some severed heads. I also saw one man strangled with a vine. Then I left the Fati Yaar Dala and crossed the Lobboi Dala, which is a smaller mountain range nearby. There I saw many more dead bodies. I could see that people had been slaughtered with knives; very few had bullet injuries. You can see so many dead bodies there.2221 988. Data from Médecins Sans Frontiers indicates the scale of violent deaths en route to Bangladesh, noting that 13.4 per cent of violent deaths occurred during the period between displacement from their village and arrival in Bangladesh.2222 989. The appalling conditions of the journey also contributed to the high number of casualties. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled with little or no notice and few, if any, possessions. Many had sustained injuries and needed urgent medical care. Most would have been experiencing deep psychological trauma, leaving their homes following a violent assault during which many had witnessed the deaths of family members and neighbours, as well as the destruction of their homes and villages. Continuing “clearance operations” and the 2212 2213 2214 2215 2216 2217 2218 2219 2220 2221 2222 CI-001, LI-057, LI-119, WI-007, XI-001, YI-031. QI-003. CI-001, CI-050, EI-027, EI-034, LI-003, WI-007, XI-001. EI-027. CI-050. CI-135, LI-049, LI-114, LI-051, QI-024, YI-030, YI-031. LI-049, LI-051, LI-059. QI-024. CI-010, YI-030, YI-031. YI-030. Médecins Sans Frontiers, “Retrospective mortality, nutrition and measles vaccination coverage survey in Balukhali 2 & Tasnimarkhola camps” (Bangladesh, 2017). 237