MYANMAR: SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS MASS DESTRUCTION .40 ROHINGYA VILLAGES BURNT IN OCT-NOV: HRW
Destruction in Rakhine State since August 25, 2017 |
A total of 40 new Rohingya villages have been ravaged between October and
November in Rakhine State of Myanmar, according to an analysis of satellite
imagery.
Satellite imagery confirms that dozens of buildings were burned the same
week Burma and Bangladesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding on November 23
to begin returning refugees in Bangladesh within two months. On November 25,
satellite data detected an active fire and building destruction in Myo Mi Chang
village in Rakhine State’s Maungdaw Township. Four villages suffered building destruction
between November 25 and December 2.
Satellite imagery recorded before and after the destruction of Myar Zin village. Satellite imagery © 2017 DigitalGlobe |
“The Burmese army’s destruction of Rohingya villages within days of
signing a refugee repatriation agreement with Bangladesh shows that commitments
to safe returns were just a public relations stunt,” said Brad Adams, Asia
director at Human Rights Watch. “The satellite imagery shows what the Burmese
army denies: that Rohingya villages continue to be destroyed. Burmese
government pledges to ensure the safety of returning Rohingya cannot be taken
seriously.”
Human Rights Watch has used satellite imagery to assess and monitor over
1,000 villages and towns in the townships of Maungdaw, Buthidaung, and
Rathiduang, where the Burmese military and vigilantes have engaged in attacks
on Rohingya. Human Rights Watch found
that the damage patterns in the 354 affected villages are consistent with
burning occurring in the weeks after the military operations began in late
August.
Of the 354 affected villages, at least 118 were either partially or
completely destroyed after September 5 -- the date the Burmese State
Counsellor’s office announced as the end of clearance operations. Of the 40 new
villages with building destruction identified by Human Rights Watch, 24 were
destroyed in October, 11 in November, and 5 over both months.
The latest documented arson attacks occurred between November 25 and
December 2 in four villages. Satellite data from environmental sensors detected
an active fire at 12:30 p.m. in the Rohingya village of Myo Mi Chang in
Maungdaw Township on November 25. Building destruction was concentrated in the
center of the village, which was undamaged until this attack. Other villages
subjected to arson attacks during this period include Nga/Myin Baw, Goke Pi,
and an unknown village in the village tract of Zee Pin Chaung.
On November 23, Bangladesh and Burma signed an Arrangement on Return of
Displaced Persons from Rakhine State on behalf of “residents of Rakhine State”
who crossed from Burma into Bangladesh after October 9, 2016 and August 25,
2017. In letters to both governments, Human Rights Watch said the agreement
should be shelved, noting the lack of involvement by the United Nations and the
unrealistic timetable for safe and voluntary returns starting in January 2018.
Since late August, the Burmese military has committed widespread
killings, rapes, arbitrary arrests, and mass arson in hundreds of predominantly
Rohingya villages in northern Rakhine State, forcing more than 655,000 Rohingya
to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. Human Rights Watch has found that this
campaign of ethnic cleansing amounts to crimes against humanity. Attacks by the
Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) armed group on 30 security force outposts
and an army base that killed 11 Burmese security personnel set off the Burmese
military “clearance operations” against the Rohingya.
In November, a Burmese army “investigation team” report concluded that
there were “no deaths of innocent people” during the military operation in
Rakhine State, and that at least 376 “terrorists” were killed during fighting,
contrary to information reported by the UN, media outlets, and human rights
groups, including Human Rights Watch. The humanitarian group Medecins Sans
Frontieres (MSF) on December 14 concluded that at least 6,700 Rohingya were
killed in the violence, over 700 of whom were children, based on survey data of
refugees in Bangladesh.
“The UN Security Council and concerned governments shouldn’t continue to
stand by as evidence of continuing attacks on the Rohingya community comes to
light,” Adams said. “Targeted sanctions need to be imposed now against those
responsible for ordering and carrying out crimes against humanity.”
No comments