Satellite images raise concerns for Burma Muslims
Human Rights Watch says the series of images (below, in October 2012 and further below, in March 2012), which compare the same scene with images taken earlier in the year, show "near total destruction" of a predominantly Rohingya Muslim part of Kyaukpyu, one of several areas in Rakhine state where battles between Rohingyas and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists threaten to derail the country's fragile democratic transition.
Tun Khin from the Burmese Rohingya Oraganisation in the UK told Channel 4 News he thinks that what is going on in the Rakhine region amounts to ethnic cleansins: "This is ethnic cleansing, proper planned by the state government and central government to eliminate the Rohingya people from Rakhine".
More than 811 buildings and houseboats were razed in Kyaukpyu on 24 October, forcing many Rohingya to flee north by sea toward the state capital Sittwe, said Human Rights Watch.
"Burma's government urgently needs to provide security for the Rohingya in Arakan (Rakhine) state, who are under vicious attack," said Phil Robertson, the group's deputy Asia director.
There were widespread unconfirmed reports of boatloads of Rohingyas trying to cross the sea border to neighbouring Bangladesh, which has denied them refugee status since 1992.
