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.
Image: Reuters/S. Z. Tun
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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."
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.
Burned out villages in northern Rakhine state in mid-OctoberImage: Getty Images/AFP/A. Marchand
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.
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.
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 children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned
The plight of the Rohingya Muslims forced to flee the atrocities committed by militants and the army in Myanmar is hard to stomach. The most vulnerable are children, as John Owens' photo series shows.
Image: DW/J. Owens
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.
Image: DW/J. Owens
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.
Image: DW/J. Owens
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.
Image: DW/J. Owens
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.
Image: DW/J. Owens
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.
Image: DW/J. Owens
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."
Image: DW/J. Owens
"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.
Image: DW/J. Owens
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.
