Satellite images show fire and destruction in northwest Myanmar, home to the Muslim Rohingya minority, Human Rights Watch says. Journalist and aid agencies face severe restrictions while trying to verify the reports.
Image: Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun
Advertisement
Some 1,250 buildings have been destroyed in Myanmar military's crackdown on the Rohingya, activists from Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday, citing satellite images of villages near the Bangladeshi border.
Previously, the Myanmar government said that fewer that 300 houses had been razed by militants aiming to "sow a seed of misunderstanding between the government troops and the people."
HRW's Asia director Brad Adams called the new satellite images "alarming." Satellite sensors also detected fires burning in several villages.
"The apparent arson attacks against five Rohingya villages is a matter of grave concern for which the Burmese government needs to investigate and prosecute those responsible," he added.
Myanmar's 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims make up most of the population in the region of Rakhine, but they are denied citizenship and other basic rights, with many of the country's majority Buddhists regarding them as illegal migrants from Bangladesh.
New leader under pressure
The violence first flared up after unknown gunmen attacked three police outposts on October 9, leaving three officers dead in the border area. The government in Naypyidaw blamed a Rohingya group for the incident.
At least 70 people were killed and 400 arrested in the ensuing crackdown, although activists claim the actual number could be far higher. At least 30,000 have been displaced. Witnesses and alleged victims also accused soldiers of widespread rape.
Myanmar is currently ruled by the Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, following decades of military rule. Many observers now question the ability of her six-month-old administration to control the army, which still holds ministries responsible for security.
No access for observers
The government has accused activists of exaggerating the scale of the violence. At the same time, international observers, journalists and aid agencies face severe restrictions of movement while trying to verify the claims in the area.
"On November 15, a government spokesperson suggested that Human Rights Watch was part of a ‘conspiracy' to harm Burma's image," Adams said on Monday.
"Instead of responding with military-era style accusations and denials, the government should simply look at the facts and take action to protect all people in Burma, whatever their religion or ethnicity," he added, using the alternative name under which the country is known.
"A government with nothing to hide should have no problem granting access to journalists and human rights investigators.”
Trafficked and abandoned - the Rohingya exodus
Boats carrying more than 1,600 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants washed to shore in Indonesia and Malaysia, after human traffickers reportedly dumped the boats in shallow waters. DW takes a look at the refugees' ordeal.
Image: Reuters/R: Bintang
Stranded
On Sunday, May 10, a group of about 600 people arrived in the Indonesian province of Aceh on four boats. At about the same time more than 1,000 others landed in three boats on the northern Malaysian resort island of Langkawi. At least two of these overcrowded boats were towed by local fishermen to the shores. Those rescued were rounded up by the police.
Image: Reuters/R. Bintang
Exhausted
Human traffickers apparently abandoned the ships - which also carried women and children - and left the hungry migrants to fend for themselves. Indonesian authorities and aid agencies believe the rescued group had been at sea for about a week. Many were in need of medical care. The authorities warn more desperate migrants could still be in peril at sea.
Image: Reuters/R: Bintang
A perilous journey
Every year thousands of impoverished Bangladeshis and Muslim Rohingya from Buddhist-majority Myanmar brave perilous land and sea routes in rickety traffickers' boats similar to this one in a desperate attempt to reach Malaysia and Indonesia. UNHCR estimates that some 25,000 Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis boarded people smugglers' boats in the first three months of this year.
Image: Asiapics
Stateless
Myanmar views its population of roughly 800,000 Rohingya as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. Most of them are not citizens and outbreaks of sectarian violence have prompted many to flee. "An entire population feels their only option is to seek asylum by sea," Matthew Smith of Fortify Rights told DW. The figure of Rohingya trafficked in Thailand since 2012 could be as high as a quarter million.
Image: Reuters/R: Bintang
Modern slave trade
Seeking to flee discrimination, the Rohingya usually contact a broker who deceives them to think they will be taken directly to Malaysia for the equivalent of up to $200, says Smith. Throughout the journey they're denied adequate food, water, and space, and subjected to beatings, and sometimes killings. The boats travel to Thai waters where they are transported to a makeshift jungle camp onshore.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/S. Yulinnas
Fear of Thailand
Many Rohingya are forced to cross Thailand using vehicles run by smugglers, who hold them in captivity in squalid jungle camps until a ransom is paid by their family back home. However, following the Thai government's recent crackdown on human trafficking, after the discovery of several mass graves (seen here), many smugglers have taken new measures, putting the migrants' lives at greater risk.
Image: Reuters/D. Sagolj
Abandoned
As a result of the crackdown by Thai authorities, Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees were found wandering around in southern Thailand near suspected jungle camps, apparently after they were abandoned by the smugglers who fled. The authorities have questioned more than 100 migrants near the country's border with Malaysia to determine whether they were victims of human trafficking.
Image: AFP/Getty Images/Str
A wave of migrants
Southeast Asia is being hit by a wave of migrants, partly driven by conflict, persecution and poverty. The Asia-Pacific region recently recorded an estimated 11.7 million trafficked people, the highest figure of any region. The Greater-Mekong Sub-region encompassing Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam features some of the most extensive flows of migration and human trafficking.
