“They made us kneel down by the river…” – BBC documentary The Tula Toli Massacre in Myanmar

One of the most voiced opinions on the ethnic cleansing on the Rohingya in Myanmar pertains to the idea that the military is ‘merely’ responding to the attacks of 25 August. However it appears to the military leadership already had troops prepositioned and may have engaged in some actions that were taken as provocations and which eventually led to the militant attack. One of the actions by the military following the attacks by militants on 25 August, was an attack on the village of Tula Toli.

About 500 Rohingya were reportedly killed, some men decapitated, burned alive, lynched. Women were raped and robbed of their jewelry, several were beaten to death. Others were gathered near the river and eventually killed. A group of children who managed to escape were caught by the military, killed with long knives and thrown into the river. Their bodies were later burned to remove any evidence.

The BBC documentary The Tula Toli Massacre provides harrowing eyewitness accounts.