More than 1,000 homes have been razed in Rohingya villages in northwest Myanmar during a military lockdown there, according to satellite images from Human Rights Watch released Monday.
Human Rights Watch said that the Burmese government should immediately invite the United Nations to assist in investigating reported destruction of villages in the area.
Asia director at Human Rights Watch Brad Adams said, “New satellite images not only confirm the widespread destruction of Rohingya villages but show that it was even greater than we first thought . Burmese authorities should promptly establish an UN-assisted investigation as a first step toward ensuring justice and security for the victims.”
Humanitarian aid groups say tens of thousands of people have been displaced by the recent violence with many of them attempting to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.
HRW says while the government maintains that terrorists are responsible for the destruction and that international journalists should investigate the claims, Myanmar continues to block not only journalists, but also humanitarian aid workers and human rights investigators from traveling to the impacted areas
Myanmar’s new civilian government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, has rejected the allegations as part of a misinformation campaign planted by “terrorists”.
Independently verifying facts on the ground has been hampered, but evidence of widespread destruction to villages is mounting.
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