Over 350 Rohingya villages burned in Rakhine state: HRW

At least 354 Rohingya villages have been partially or totally destroyed in Myanmar's Rakhine State since Aug. 25, a global rights agency said Sunday.

According to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), 40 villages with building destructions occurred in October and November, increasing the total to 354 villages that have been partially or completely destroyed since Aug. 25, 2017.

“During this period, thousands more Rohingya refugees fled Burma [Myanmar] and arrived in Bangladesh,” it added.

During the crackdown, security forces and Buddhist mobs have killed men, women, and children, looted homes, and torched Rohingya villages, according to refugee accounts.

Since late August, the Myanmar military has committed widespread killings, rapes, arbitrary arrests, and mass arson in hundreds of predominantly Rohingya villages, forcing more than 655,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, the HRW said.

“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,” the report said.

Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW, termed Myanmar’s refugee repatriation agreement with Bangladesh “just a public relations stunt”.

On Nov. 23, Myanmar and Bangladesh signed a repatriation agreement for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, who fled to Bangladesh to escape the brutal military crackdown in the Maungdaw area of Myanmar's Rakhine State in recent months.

Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, around 650,000 Rohingya have crossed from Rakhine state into Bangladesh, according to the UN. 

The refugees are fleeing a military operation in which security forces and Buddhist mobs have killed men, women and children, looted homes and torched Rohingya villages.