Satellite Imagery Shows New Destruction in Rakhine State
HRW (New York, December 18, 2017) – Analysis of satellite imagery
reveals new destruction of Rohingya villages during October and November 2017
in northern Rakhine State in Burma, Human Rights Watch said today. https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/satellite-imagery/2017/12/17/2017-12-asia-burma-destruction
Human Rights Watch identified 40 villages with building destruction
occurring in October and November, increasing the total to 354 villages that
have been partially or completely destroyed since August 25, 2017. During this
period, thousands more Rohingya refugees fled Burma and arrived in Bangladesh. https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/photograph/2017/12/17/2017-12-asia-burma-destruction-map
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.
“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: those Rohingya villages continue to be destroyed. Burmese
government pledges to ensure the safety of returning Rohingya cannot be taken
seriously.” https://www.hrw.org/about/people/brad-adams
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. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/19/aung-san-suu-kyi-myanmar-rohingya-crisis-concerned
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. https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/12/11/burma-rohingya-return-deal-bad-refugees
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.”