IMPUNITY Impunity for deaths in custody and unnecessary or excessive use of force and firearms persisted in Malaysia. There were several deaths in custody, including that of S. Balamurugan who was reportedly beaten by police during interrogation. In Indonesia’s Papua province there was a lack of accountability for unnecessary or excessive use of force during mass protests or other security operations. Fiji’s government failed to ensure accountability for torture and other ill-treatment of detainees by the security forces. In Timor-Leste, victims of serious human rights violations committed during the Indonesian occupation (1975-1999) continued to demand justice and reparations. MYANMAR’S CAMPAIGN OF VIOLENCE AGAINST THE ROHINGYA The security forces launched a targeted campaign of ethnic cleansing, including unlawful killings, rape and burning of villages – amounting to crimes against humanity – against the Rohingya people in northern Rakhine State. The atrocities – an unlawful and disproportionate response to attacks on security posts by an armed Rohingya group in August – created the worst refugee crisis in decades in Southeast Asia. Severe restrictions imposed by Myanmar on aid groups working in Rakhine State worsened the suffering. More than 655,000 Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh. By the end of the year, nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees were scattered across Bangladesh's Cox’s Bazar District, including those who had fled earlier waves of violence. Those who remained in Myanmar continued to live under a regime amounting to apartheid in which their rights, including to equality before the law and freedom of movement, as well as access to health, education and work, were severely restricted. The Myanmar security forces were primarily responsible for the violence against the Rohingya. However, the civilian administration led by Aung San Suu Kyi failed to speak out or intervene. Instead it maligned humanitarian workers, accusing them of aiding “terrorists” while denying the violations. Despite mounting evidence of atrocities in Myanmar, the international community, including the UN Security Council, failed to take effective action or send a clear message that there would be accountability for the military’s crimes against humanity. PEOPLE ON THE MOVE Australia maintained its hardline policies of confining hundreds of people seeking asylum in offshore processing centres in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, and turning back those attempting to reach Australia by boat – failing in its international obligation to protect them. Refugees and asylum-seekers remained trapped on Nauru, forcibly sent there by the Australian government – most more than four years previously – despite widespread reports of physical, psychological and sexual abuse. Several hundred people living in the offshore processing facility, including dozens of children, faced humiliation, abuse, neglect and poor physical and mental health care. More than 800 others living in the community faced serious security risks as well as inadequate access to health care, education and employment opportunities. The Australian government withdrew services from its facility on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea at the end of October in order to force refugees to move closer to town where refugees and asylum-seekers had well-founded fears for their safety. Refugees were forcibly moved to new but unfinished facilities in November. They continued to face challenges with inadequate health care, violence in the community and no clear plans for their future. Fiji forcibly returned people to countries where they might be at risk of serious violations. Cambodia rejected 29 applications for refugee status by Montagnard asylum-seekers, forcibly returning them to Viet Nam where they faced possible persecution. Amnesty International Report 2017/18 43