Satellite imagery shows Myanmar authorities have bulldozed at least 55 Rohingya villages in northern Rakhine in recent months, Human Rights Watch said Friday, condemning the government for erasing evidence at sites where troops are accused of atrocities. Myanmar denies the charge but has blocked UN investigators from investigating an area where thousands of Rohingya are believed to have been killed. Hundreds of Rohingya villages were already damaged by fire during the initial months of violence last year, when soldiers and Buddhist vigilantes terrorised communities with arson, gunfire and rape, according to refugees. Since November Myanmar authorities have further demolished at least 55 villages with heavy machinery, clearing out all structures and vegetation, satellite images obtained by Human Rights Watch showed. Members of the Muslim minority have been systematically stripped of their legal rights in Myanmar in recent decades.

Source: Dhaka Tribune February 23, 2018 09:33 UTC