Geo News reporters given death threats, forced to leave Myanmar

YANGON: A reporting team sent by Geo News to cover the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar received death threats and was forced to leave the country.

Ali Imran Syed and Adnan Yahya were sent by Geo News to Yangon to cover the crisis and had been reporting on the human rights violations being committed against the Rohingya Muslims.

On Sunday, Syed revealed in his report that Myanmar border forces were using stun gas and chilli spray on Rohingya who were fleeing the country, making it comparable to a “holocaust like situation”.

 

After the report was aired, Myanmar security forces started following Syed and Yahya and also began monitoring the hotel they were residing in. The two Geo News reporters were harassed and a social media campaign was launched against them.

Abduction and death threats were also received by the reporters, following which they took refuge in the Pakistani Embassy.

The Myanmar security forces continued to monitor the two journalists and were taken to the airport by Pakistani Embassy staff and returned to Pakistan.

Prior to their departure, Syed filed a report in which he gave details of what had transpired.

We were forced to vacate our room and informed by the driver that propaganda against us had started on Facebook. The posts on Facebook were shared widely and showed pictures of us. We were also accused of being agents and our passport details have also been given. When we had the comments on the post translated, they contained death threats. After reading these comments we reported this development to the Pakistan Embassy and were advised by Ambassador Dr Khalid Memom to take refuge. 

More than 436,000 Rohingya refugees have crossed the border from Myanmar's Rakhine since August 25 when a military crackdown was launched, according to UN figures on Monday.

The refugees have given shocking accounts of killings and mass rapes by Myanmar soldiers and Buddhist mobs.