More than 140,000 individuals – mostly from the Rohingya Muslim minority – are currently displaced across Rakhine state and have been living in temporary shelters since violence erupted between the Buddhist and Muslim communities in Rakhine state in June 2012. Around half are located in low-lying areas prone to flooding.

According to information released by the US military, cyclone “Mahasen” is expected to reach the area by late Wednesday or early Thursday morning.

“The government has been repeatedly warned to make appropriate arrangements for those displaced in Rakhine state. Now thousands of lives are at stake unless targeted action is taken immediately to assist those most at risk,” said Isabelle Arradon, Amnesty International’s Deputy Asia Pacific Director.

Authorities in Myanmar are said to have taken some measures, including identifying evacuation sites and broadcasting announcements in and around the coastal town of Sittwe to warn residents of the impending storm.

However, several of the identified evacuation sites are within already established camps for internally displaced persons or fail to have adequate storm-ready structures, and storm warnings have not been provided to all at-risk displaced communities outside of Rakhine state’s capital city, Sittwe.

The authorities also continue to impose restrictions on freedom of movement for Rohingya in Rakhine state, including those who are confined to ill-equipped camps.

“The government must facilitate assistance without discrimination, including by lifting any restrictions on movement and ensuring humanitarian groups have access to all individuals in need. The freedom for Rohingya to seek higher ground may be their only chance to avoid potential flooding from heavy rains,” said Arradon.

The Rohingya have faced discrimination for decades in Myanmar. They are not recognized as an official ethnic group and continue to be denied equal access to citizenship rights. Their rights to study, work, travel, marry, practise their religion, and receive health services are restricted to various degrees.

Since the violence last June, Buddhist and Muslim communities have been living largely segregated from each other and tensions remain high.

“Considering continuing tensions between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Rakhine, the authorities need to prepare for the possibility of violence during an evacuation situation or in the aftermath of a storm. Addressing the discrimination of the Rohingya community and taking urgent steps towards accountability for last year’s violence will be crucial to prevent future abuses,” said Arradon.

State security forces carried out human rights violations during last year’s violence in Rakhine state and failed to protect people from attacks, including Rohingya.

The government-appointed Rakhine Commission this week issued a briefing on its investigation into violence between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Rakhine state, western Myanmar, which first erupted in June 2012. The clashes have resulted in a considerable loss of life and left thousands displaced.

The Commission, which did not include any Rohingya on its panel, called on the government to “double” the presence of security forces in Rakhine state, including the Border Security Force (NaSaKa).

“There are some positive steps in this report but also several flaws. Deploying more security forces without first suspending — pending further investigation — those who may have been involved in human rights violations during last year’s violence could fuel further abuses,” said Isabelle Arradon, Amnesty International’s Asia Deputy Director.

“Comprehensive reform of the security forces, including the establishment of robust accountability mechanisms, adequate vetting systems and training on relevant international standards, is also essential.”

Since June 2012, the NaSaKa, police and army have arbitrarily detained hundreds of men and boys, mostly from Muslim-dominated areas, and subjected many of them to torture and other ill-treatment.

There are also consistent reports that security forces have failed to protect members of the Muslim community, particularly the Rohingya minority, from attacks. In some cases, security forces have used unnecessary and excessive force that has led to deaths and injuries.

The Commission did recommend the establishment of a Truth-Finding Committee, and stressed the need to ensure that those who break the law are “prosecuted”.

“A Truth-Finding Committee is a positive step, as long as it is part of an independent investigation to determine responsibility for the violence and its findings are released to the public,” said Isabelle Arradon.

“But such a commission should not bar or replace criminal justice, or reparation for crimes under international law.”

The Commission said citizenship claims by Rohingya, who are referred to in the report as “Bengali”, should be addressed in a “transparent and accountable manner.”

However, it failed to call for a review of the 1982 Citizenship Law, which has rendered Rohingya Muslims effectively stateless.

“Under international human rights standards no one must be left stateless. Anything short of granting the Rohingya equal access to citizenship is in itself a form of discrimination which should be urgently addressed,” said Isabelle Arradon

The Commission also called for several measures to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Rakhine state, recognizing that the humanitarian response “still has several gaps”.

According to UN estimates, some 140,000 people remain displaced across Rakhine state with limited access to bare necessities like food and medical care.

Conditions are expected to worsen during the monsoon season, which starts in May, as heavy rains threaten to flood certain internally displaced person (IDP) camps.

“It is deeply concerning that humanitarian organizations still do not have unfettered access to all populations in need of aid, including those living in remote areas or unregistered camps,” said Arradon.

“Immediate arrangements must be made for the displaced living in flood-prone areas to avoid a humanitarian crisis with the approaching rainy season.”

The Commission recommended that the de facto segregation of the Rakhine and Rohingya populations – enforced following the violence – should continue until tensions between the communities subside.

“While there is obviously a need to restore calm, the authorities must also consult internally displaced persons and develop a plan to facilitate their voluntary return home. Segregation and IDP camps cannot be a long-term solution,” said Isabelle Arradon.

The Commission, which was established in August 2012, comprises 27 stakeholders including Muslims, but does not feature a representative from the Rohingya community.

“It is clear that the Indian Ocean has become for people fleeing their countries one of the deadliest stretches of water in the world,” the agency’s spokesman, Andrej Mahecic, told journalists in Geneva.

The agency estimates that out of the 13,000 people who left on smugglers’ boats in 2012, close to 500 died at sea when their boats broke down or capsized in the Bay of Bengal.

“Already in 2013, several thousand people are believed to have boarded smugglers boats in the Bay of Bengal,” Mr. Mahecic added.

Of particular concern is the Rohingya community from western Myanmar’s Rakhine state which is not recognized by the Government and remain stateless. Fighting between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the state erupted last June, uprooting 115,000 people – the majority of them Rohingya – and sending them to live in internally displaced camps in Myanmar or to refugee and makeshift camps in Bangladesh and neighbouring countries.

While men have usually been the ones crossing, recent weeks have seen an increase of women and children among smuggled passengers, signalling growing desperation and lack of prospects, according to UNHCR.

Among the most recent incidents, around 90 people believed to be Rohingya died of dehydration and starvation during a two-month journey. More than 30 survivors from the same vessel were rescued last weekend by Sri Lanka’s navy off that country’s coast.

“UNHCR is greatly saddened by this latest terrible ordeal, and commends the quick action of the Sri Lankan navy in rescuing this group and providing immediate medical attention,” Mr. Mahecic said. He added that the agency is ready to support the Sri Lankan authorities in assisting any among them who are in need of international protection.

Meanwhile, UNHCR is urging governments, including Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, which have accepted large numbers of refugees, to agree on protocols for the safe and quick disembarkation of rescued passengers and the provision of urgent humanitarian assistance.

“UNHCR recognizes the regional dimension of the irregular movements of refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants by sea. Genuine cooperative regional approaches that promote sharing of burdens and responsibility could offer asylum-seekers and refugees an alternative to dangerous and exploitative boat journeys,” Mr. Mahecic said.

The agency said it will facilitate discussions between governments and international organizations on this topic at a regional meeting to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, in March.

According to media reports, Government officials have said that at least 56 people have been killed and hundreds of homes torched since Sunday in the north of Rakhine state, located in western Myanmar.

Tensions between the Buddhist majority and the stateless Muslim Rohingya minority have been rife since deadly violence began in June. Tens of thousands people were living in camps around Sittwe, the state capital of Rakhine state, already before the latest flare-up. The total number of displaced is now estimated to be around 100,000, according to Al Jazeera.

On Thursday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the authorities in Myanmar to take action to bring an end to the lawlessness currently affecting the state, with the UN chief’s spokesperson describing the most recent outbreak of communal violence in five townships in the state’s north as “deeply troubling.”

New satellite imagery obtained by Human Rights Watch shows extensive destruction of homes and other property in a predominantly Rohingya Muslim area of the coastal town of Kyauk Pyu – one of several areas of new violence and displacement.

Human Rights Watch identified 811 destroyed structures on the eastern coastal edge of Kyauk Pyu following arson attacks reportedly conducted on October 24, 2012, less than 24 hours before the satellite images were captured.

Human Rights Watch fears the death toll is far higher than what government officials have said based on allegations from witnesses fleeing scenes of carnage and the government’s well-documented history of underestimating figures that might lead to criticism of the state.

In June, Human Rights Watch documented killings, rape, and mass arrests by security forces against Rohingya Muslims after the security forces failed to protect both them and Arakan Buddhists during deadly sectarian violence. Since then, government restrictions on humanitarian access to the Rohingya community left many of the displaced.

Myanmar’s government denies citizenship to most Rohingya and the protections that come with it. Since communal violence between Rohingya and Arakanese erupted in June, many Rohingya have been compelled to live in squalid camps in Arakan State, where they have been denied access to adequate humanitarian aid and vulnerable to attack from Arakan militants.

President Thein Sein appointed an investigative commission earlier in 2012 to determine the causes of violence, but has yet to propose any policies to address those causes. He has at times called for the segregation of the Rohingya and even their expulsion from Myanmar, which feeds popular animosity against the Rohingya from the general population.

“Such positive steps will help support Myanmar’s ongoing process of democratization and reform,” the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General, Vijay Nambiar, said in a statement on the fact-finding visit led by the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoðlu, undertaken at the invitation of the Government of Myanmar.

Recent tensions between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the western state of Rakhine have left at least a dozen civilians dead and hundreds of homes destroyed, as well as at least 64,000 people displaced.

The Turkish delegation visited the camps of both Muslims and Buddhists displaced by the violence, where humanitarian aid provided by Turkey was distributed, representing the first such assistance accepted by Myanmar outside that provided by the UN, according to Mr. Nambiar’s statement.

“This has demonstrated the willingness of the Myanmar Government to cooperate with the international community to alleviate the suffering of its people,” Mr. Nambiar said, adding that he and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had been in continuous contact with authorities on the matter.

Last week, at the end of four-day mission to Myanmar, the Director of Operations for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), John Ging, warned of the rapidly growing needs faced by over half a million internally displaced persons in the Asian nation, and called on the Government to give aid agencies access to all areas of the country.

A series of democratic reforms in Myanmar, begun last year and led by President Thein Sein, culminated in April elections in which pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi won a position in the lower house of parliament and which Mr. Ban, in a visit soon after, called “a historic moment.”

Human Rights Watch urged the Burmese government to end arbitrary and incommunicado detention, and redeploy and hold accountable security forces implicated in serious abuses. Burmese authorities should ensure safe access to the area by the United Nations (UN), independent humanitarian organizations, and the media.

The recent sectarian violence began after an ethnic Arakan woman was allegedly raped and killed by three Muslim men on Ramri island in southern Arakan State in late May, which was followed by the June 3 killing of 10 Muslims by an Arakan mob in Toungop. On June 8, thousands of Rohingya rioted in the town of Maungdaw, destroying Arakan property and causing an unknown number of deaths. Groups of Rohingya subsequently committed killings and other violence elsewhere in the state, burning down Arakan homes and villages. Arakan groups, in some cases with the collusion of local authorities and police, committed violence against Rohingya communities, including killings and beatings, and burning down Muslim homes and villages.

On June 10, President Thein Sein declared a state of emergency in northern Arakan State, which permits the armed forces to carry out arrests and detain people without fundamental due process protections. While the Burmese army has largely contained the sectarian violence, abuses by security forces against Rohingya communities appear to be on the upsurge in recent weeks, Human Rights Watch said.

 Local police and the Nasaka, claiming to be searching for Rohingya criminal suspects involved in the sectarian strife, have conducted mass round-ups of Rohingya.

Nevertheless, the mass arrests ongoing in northern Arakan State seem to be discriminatory, as the authorities in these townships do not appear to be investigating or apprehending Arakan suspected of criminal offenses, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch documented the destruction of Buddhist temples, mosques, and thousands of Arakan and Rohingya houses that were burned to the ground during the sectarian violence, leaving an estimated 90,000 people displaced and taking segregated refuge in temporary camps and community sites.

“The sectarian violence and state of emergency provides no excuse for the security forces to continue their past record of abuses and discrimination against the Rohingya community.”

The Burmese government restricts international access to northern Arakan State – an area comprising the predominantly Muslim townships of Maungdaw, Buthidaung, and Rathedaung – and severely curtails freedom of movement for Rohingya residents. The Nasaka’s long history of arbitrary detentions, torture, and other ill-treatment of Rohingya detainees heightens concerns about the recent mass arrests, Human Rights Watch said.

The government has not allowed independent investigations in the affected areas since the violence began.

The government should invite the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Tomas Quintana, to Arakan State to conduct an urgent visit to investigate the violence and conduct of the security forces, Human Rights Watch said, adding that authorities should immediately disclose the location of all detention centers, provide the names of all detainees, bring them promptly before a judge, and allow independent humanitarian agencies access to all facilities.