Rohingya villages destroyed 'to erase evidence'

International Desk: Satellite images of Myanmar suggest entire Rohingya villages have been destroyed, campaign group Human Rights Watch says,

The group said at least 55 villages - many of which were already damaged by arson - had been completely bulldozed.

The villages "should be treated as crime scenes" and preserved, it added.

More than half a million Rohingya people fled the destruction of their homes last year in what the UN called a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing".

Villages where Rohingya had lived were burned and several thousand people were killed in retaliation after Rohingya militants staged a series of attacks on police outposts.

Myanmar's military says it is fighting the militants and denies targeting civilians.

Most fleeing Rohingya made the journey across the border to neighbouring Bangladesh.

Human Rights Watch said the apparent destruction of homes erases evidence for legal claims from the exiled Rohingya.

United Nations staff have not been allowed access to the area to carry out an investigation.

Agencies


risingbd/Dhaka/Feb 24, 2018/Nasim