Myanmar’s tourism dreams pierced by Rohingya crisis

during an autumn tour of Asia.

One step forward, two back?

There are fears the refugee crisis could sector back to the dark days under military rule, when many travelers passed over the pariah state to avoid lining the pockets of generals who brutally suppressed human rights.

All that had started to change after the army initiated a transition to partial democracy in 2011.

The move saw Western sanctions landscapes unspoiled by the crowds and travel infrastructure that has mushroomed elsewhere in the region.

with a 22 percent increase in visitors compared to the previous year, ac of Tourism, which hopes to double the number of annual arrivals to 7.5 million by 2020.

But at the end of August, western

Raids by mobs of poorly armed Rohingya militants prompted a military backlash so brutal the UN says it likely amounts to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority.

Tourists walk in front of City Hall in the downtown area of Yangon. There are fears the Rohingya refugee crisis could throw Myanmar’s fledgling tourism sector back to the dark days under military rule, when many travelers passed over the pariah state to avoid lining the pockets of generals who brutally suppressed human rights.

More than half a million Rohingya cramming into Bangladesh’s ram shackle refugee camps, have seized in two months, carrying testimony of headlines around the globe and cast killings, rape and arson at the hands a pall over the young democracy’s rise. of soldiers and Buddhist mobs.

Their chilling stories, alongside zone in Rakhine state lies Mrauk-U, photos of gaunt and weary refugees an ancient capital and hallowed ar- chaeological site.

Two months into the crisis, locals say the site is empty of the tourists normally buzzing around its ruins.

“All people who live on tourism are out of work now,” guide Aung SoeMyint told AFP.