Burma building bases on Rohingya villages

military is building installations on land in villages that had been occupied by Muslim Rohingya who fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, Amnesty International has said.

The London-based rights group said eyewitness evidence and analysis of satellite images established that Burma’s Rakhine state is being militarised at an alarming pace with the construction of army bases, helipads and roads.

Rights groups and the United Nations charge that about 700,000 Rohingya were forced out by a scorched earth campaign by Burmese security forces that began last August after a Rohingya insurgent group carried out attacks on about 30 security post.

“What we are seeing in Rakhine state is a land grab by the military on a dramatic scale,” said Tirana Hassan of Amnesty International.

“New bases are being erected to house the very same security forces that have committed crimes against humanity against Rohingya.”

Burma government spokesman Zaw Htay said the bulldozing is mainly to prepare burned areas for resettlement where structures had already been burned down.

The government has denied burning down villages to drive out the Rohingya.

“We are going to build new villages and new homes and resettle people there according to the village planning,” he said.

He denied separate allegations that the bulldozing was to destroy evidence of human rights abuses by the army, a major concern of human rights groups.

“The bulldozing of entire villages is incredibly worrying,” said Ms Hassan.

“Burma is erasing evidence of crimes against humanity, making any future attempts to hold those responsible to account difficult.”