Myanmar: Video and satellite evidence shows new fires still torching Rohingya villages

Local sources in northern Rakhine State claim the fires were started by members of the Myanmar security forces and local vigilante mobs. “This damning evidence from the ground and from space flies in the face of Aung San Suu Kyi’s assertions to the world that what she called military ‘clearance operations’ in Rakhine State ended on 5 September,” said Tirana Hassan, Crisis Response Director at Amnesty International.

“Almost three weeks later, we can see in real time how there is no let-up in the campaign of violence against Rohingya in northern Rakhine State. Rohingya homes and villages continue to burn, before, during and after their inhabitants take flight in terror. Not satisfied with simply forcing Rohingya from their homes, authorities seem intent on ensuring they have no homes to return to. “The time has come and gone for giving Myanmar’s military and political leadership the benefit of the doubt. The international community must be unequivocal in its condemnation and take effective action to halt this ethnic cleansing campaign as well as bring the perpetrators to account.”

One video, taken on 21 September near the village of Hpar Wat Chaung village, northern Maungdaw township, shows agricultural land in the foreground with a large plume of smoke rising from a settlement located amid a group of trees. A local resident told Amnesty International that Myanmar Border Guard Police (BGP) and vigilante groups started the fires in the early afternoon, and that there were further burning operations that same evening.

Amnesty International reviewed satellite imagery of Hpar Wat Chaung from 16 and 22 September. Smoke is still visible in the later image, which clearly showed the village had been set ablaze and structures standing just days earlier had been burnt to the ground. Additionally, satellite sensors detected a recent active fire in the village, further corroborating the incident.

The violence has prompted more than 429,000 people to flee to Bangladesh as refugees since 25 August. In legal terms, these are crimes against humanity – murder and deportation or forcible transfer of population.

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