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Rohingya refugees

HRW: Myanmar continues to destroy Rohingya villages

Human Rights Watch slams Myanmar's continued destruction of villages, calls repatriation deal a PR stunt. Separately, two journalists are facing 14 years in prison for violating the country's Official Secrets Act.

Charred remains of a Rohingya village that has been burned to the ground.

As officials from Myanmar were signing a repatriation agreement in late November with Bangladesh for the return of 600,000 Rohingya refugees, the country's military continued to burn down the refugees' villages, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

HRW said buildings were destroyed in 40 villages in northern Rakhine state in October and November, raising the total to 354 villages that have been partially or completely destroyed since late August.

"Satellite imagery confirms that dozens of buildings were burned the same week" the agreement was signed, HRW said in a statement.

"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, Human Rights Watch's Asia director.

"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."
Watch video 01:46

Rohingya returnees fear reprisals in Myanmar

At least 630,000 Rohingya have fled a murderous rampage by Myanmar's military, following an August 25 attack by Rohingya insurgents on police and security forces.

Rohingya describe horror

Myanmar's army has rejected accusations of mass rape, beatings, extra-judicial killings and destruction of property by security forces. They have blamed insurgents for the villages' destruction. But they have also referred to the purging of the Rohingya as "clearance operations."

Rohingya refugees arriving in Bangladesh described horror stories of rape, murder and having their homes set alight by soldiers and Buddhist mobs loyal to the government.

Aeril view of burned out villages in northern Rakhine state in mid-October

Burned out villages in northern Rakhine state in mid-October

Of the latest accusations made by HRW, Zaw Htay, Myanmar's government spokesman, said, "I cannot give comment yet because I have not seen the statement on the satellite images yet."

Sann Win, a border guard police officer in northern Rakhine, maintained that "there was no burning of any villagers' homes in October and November."

The non-governmental organization Doctors Without Borders reported last week that at least 6,700 Rohingya — including 700 children — had been killed in the military's brutal crackdown, which some have described as ethnic cleansing.
Watch video 02:13

Does Myanmar's military use systematic rape?

In response to international pressure, Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government signed an agreement with Bangladesh in late November to begin repatriating Rohingya refugees within two months.

Journalists to face trial

President Htin Kyaw, a longtime confidant of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has approved the arrest of two journalists who are accused of violating the State Secrets Act.

Htay, his spokesman, maintained "the case will be carried out according to the law."

Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested December 12 after police accused them of violating the country's Official Secret Act, which is punishable by up to 14 years in prison, for acquiring "important secret papers" from two policemen.

The police officers are also under investigation.

  • Rohingya boy sitting on a chair

    Rohingya children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned

    Shot and stabbed

    Since August, more than 600,000 Rohingya have fled from Myanmar into Bangladesh. "The day the military came, they burnt down the village and shot my mother as she was trying to escape. My father couldn’t walk, so they stabbed him. I saw this with my own eyes," says 10-year-old Mohammed Belal who managed to run away from his village.

  • Rohingya girl in a shelter

    Rohingya children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned

    Haunted by the trauma

    Mohammed’s sister Nur also watched the slaughter. She and her brother now live in a shelter for unaccompanied children in Bangladesh. She can play there and gets regular meals, a stark contrast to her journey from Myanmar where she and her brother nearly starved. But she is still haunted by the trauma of the recent weeks. "I miss my parents, my home, my country," she says.

  • Rohingya boy in a shelter

    Rohingya children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned

    Deep-rooted conflict

    The conflict, which has been going on for 70 years and is rooted in the post-World War II social organization of the country, has claimed more than 2,000 victims since 2016, including the mother of 12-year-old Rahman, above. "They set fire to my home, and my mother was ill, so she could not leave," he says.

  • Rohingya girl crying

    Rohingya children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned

    Save the children

    Dilu-Aara, 5, came to the camp with her sister Rojina after she witnessed her parents being murdered by the military. "I was crying all the time and the bullets were flying over our heads. I escaped somehow." The international aid agency Save the Children is helping minors who come to Kutupalong without parents. Children make up to 60 percent of all Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

  • Rohingya boy outside a refugee camp

    Rohingya children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned

    Hunted like animals

    Jaded Alam is among the hundreds of kids who came to Kutupalong without parents. Fortunately, his aunt cares for him — and very well, he admits. Jaded grew up in a village called Mandi Para where he used to love playing football, but everything changed when the military attacked. "They told us to leave our home. When I was running with my parents, they shot them. They died on the spot," he says.

  • Rohingya father who is looking for his son

    Rohingya children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned

    Child abductions

    Not all families have been separated during their plight, however. Rahman Ali has been scouring the refugee camp for weeks now after his 10-year-old son Zifad disappeared. Rumors of child abductions have swirled around the camp for years, and Rahman fears his son has fallen prey to human traffickers. "I can't eat, I can’t sleep. I’m so upset! It’s like I’ve gone mad."

  • Rohingya mother holding a child

    Rohingya children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned

    "My mind is not normal"

    When the shooting started, Sokina Khatun did all she could to protect her children — but she couldn't save Yasmine,15, and Jamalita, 20, who were in a neighboring village at the time. "Their throats were cut in front of their grandparents," she says. "I was numb, I couldn’t feel the pain. Right now my mind is not normal," she says. She managed to rescue nine of her offspring.

  • Girl standing at the entrance of a tent

    Rohingya children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned

    Attacked, raped and robbed

    Yasmine thinks she might be 15 but looks considerably younger. In her village, she used to play with marbles and run in the nearby fields, but different memories haunt her now: The attack by Myanmar forces, the beating and murder of her beloved father and brothers, and the rape by a group of Burmese soldiers who also robbed her. "I felt lots of pain in my body," she says.

    Author: Jan Tomes, John Owens


bik/ng (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)

 

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