pushed Rohingya communities toward starvation by burning markets and blocking access to farmland; and burned hundreds of Rohingya villages in a targeted and deliberate manner.23 The actions of the Myanmar authorities against the Rohingya were often supported by the active participation of local vigilantes in Rakhine State. The attacks were conducted with intense brutality. These attacks are extensively documented in previous reports by Amnesty International.24 Survivors who made the journey to Bangladesh faced further horrors on their way, with many coming under attack from the Myanmar security forces and Rakhine civilians. Each of the Rohingya refugees interviewed by Amnesty International in the course of this research had their own harrowing escape story to tell. Mohamed,25 recounted his journey to Amnesty International: “On 2nd September, they came to our village... They looted everything like our motorbikes and other expensive things, then they burned down our houses. So we stayed in the jungle for 15 days, and they kept getting closer day by day, burning every village. We knew if we stayed, they would come to us, so we kept walking village to village until finally we arrived in Bangladesh after 122 days of walking.” During the journey, Mohamed, aged 20, witnessed both of his grandfathers being killed by Myanmar security forces: “One of my grandfathers was killed, he was 70 years old so he could not walk like us. They killed and burned my grandfather; we never saw his face again… My other grandfather came with us for 12 days, he crossed into no man’s land on the border, but there was a station of border guard police there. We held our hands up to surrender in front of them, but they opened fire on us, Saweyddollah Salam, my grandfather, was killed by a bullet to the brain, and the same bullet hit his wife. He was immediately dead.” Mohamed survived the massacre by concealing himself on the ground: “I lay down on the mud, so I survived. Even after we crossed, we still could not say anything. They fired for 20 minutes and 19 people were killed, six more were injured. After they stopped firing, we moved gradually north to the river until we could get a small boat to Bangladesh… On the way, we saw so many dead people who have been killed – so many dead bodies.”26 Tun, who was 16 years old at the time, recounted the horror of his escape on foot from Rakhine State, when his group was attacked by both local vigilantes and the military: “We were nearly 20,000 people in a group, mostly women and children. It took 41 days to reach Bangladesh. Every day we felt that our lives would be ended here. Every day we heard the gunfire noise. Every day. Some of the Buddhist people and military came when we were walking in our line, and they tried to attack us. The people at the back of our line were attacked with knives and guns. Most of them were women and children, and some elderly people. Over 200-300 were killed. They rounded them up and shot and stabbed them. ”27 An in-depth investigation by Amnesty International published in 2018 found that the Myanmar authorities’ actions amounted to crimes against humanity under international law, as they were perpetrated as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Rohingya population.28 During this 10-month period, Amnesty International found evidence of nine of the 11 crimes against humanity listed in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court being committed since 25 August 2017, including murder, torture, deportation or forcible transfer, rape and other sexual violence, persecution, enforced disappearance, and other inhumane acts, such as forced starvation.29 Amnesty International also found that responsibility for these crimes extends to the highest levels of the military. This includes the Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar military Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who has since seized power from the civilian government following a coup on 1 February 2021 and assumed the role of Chairman of the State Administration Council.30 Since 23 Amnesty International, “We will destroy everything”. 24 Amnesty International, “We will destroy everything”; Amnesty International, “My World is Finished”. 25 Interview by video call with Mohamed (full name withheld for security reasons), Rohingya refugee, 11 April 2022. 26 Interview by video call with Mohamed (full name withheld for security reasons), Rohingya refugee, 11 April 2022. 27 Interview by video call with Tun (pseudonym, real name withheld for security reasons), Rohingya refugee, 11 April 2022. 28 Amnesty International, “We will destroy everything”. 29 Amnesty International, “We will destroy everything”, p. 8. 30 Amnesty International, “We will destroy everything”, p. 8. THE SOCIAL ATROCITY META AND THE RIGHT TO REMEDY FOR THE ROHINGYA Amnesty International 15