UN says 370,000 Rohingya flee Myanmar for Bangladesh #AFP Picture taken at the Bangladeshi side of Naf river in Teknaf. Photo @uz_munir: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 13 September 2017

My god, this shot of Rohingya refugees watching their houses burn across the border in Myanmar (Masfiqur Sohan/NurPhoto): image via pourmecoffee @pourmecoffee, 12 September 2017

Their villages burning in the distance behind them

Global split over Rohingya crisis as China backs Myanmar crackdown #AFP Picture taken near the Bangladeshi town of Teknaf. Photo @uz_munir: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 12 September 2017

#Monsoon rains in South Asia put 1/3rd #Bangladesh under water. #climate: image via Nur Photo @NurPhoto, 21 August 2017

#Rohingya wait at #Bangladesh border after fleeing #Myanmar.: image via Nur Photo @NurPhoto, 2 September 2017

Rally against #Rohingya persecutions in #Jakarta.: image via Nur Photo @NurPhoto, 4 September 2017

Nowhere else to go #Rohingya #refugees try their luck at #Bangladesh border.: image via NurPhoto @NurPhoto, 7 September 2017

Al Qaeda warns Myanmar of 'punishment' over Rohingya

Rohingya refugees wait for food to be distributed by local organisations near Balukhali makeshift refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, September 13, 2017.: photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters, 13 September 2017

U.N. seeks 'massive' aid boost amid Rohingya 'emergency within an emergency': Krishna N. Das, Reuters, 13 September 2017

KUTUPALONG CAMP, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Aid agencies have to step up operations “massively” in response to the arrival in Bangladesh of about 400,000 refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar, and the amount of money needed to help them has risen sharply, a senior U.N. official said on Wednesday.

The exodus of Muslim Rohingya to Bangladesh began on Aug. 25 after Rohingya militants attacked about 30 police posts and an army camp. The attacks triggered a sweeping military counter-offensive by security forces in Buddhist-majority Myanmar which the U.N. rights agency said was a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

“We will all have to ramp up our response massively, from food to shelter,” George William Okoth-Obbo, assistant high commissioner for operations at the U.N. refugee agency, told Reuters during a visit to the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh.

The United Nations said on Tuesday 370,000 people had crossed into Bangladesh but Okoth-Obbo estimated the figure was now 400,000. He declined to speculate on how many more might come.

Bangladesh was already home to about 400,000 Rohingya, who fled earlier conflict in Myanmar including a similar security crackdown in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state in response to militant attacks in October.

Many of the new arrivals are hungry and sick, without shelter or clean water in the middle of the rainy season.

“We have an emergency within an emergency with conditions in existing camps,” he said, pointing to a mud-clogged road in the camp.

Last week, the United Nations appealed for $77 million to cope with the crisis but Okoth-Obbo said that would not now be enough.

“The appeal that was issued of $77 million on behalf of the aid agencies was based on the situation as it was roughly about two weeks ago,” he said.

“There were only 100,000 people then. We are already four times that figure now. The funds need clearly is going to continue.”

He declined to say how much he thought was needed.

He also declined to say if he thought aid agencies were getting proper access to the conflict zone in Myanmar, though he said it was important to ensure that people were safe where they were.

“Of course, also that access is provided to all the responders to provide humanitarian assistance,” he added.

Myanmar has restricted most aid agency access to the north of Rakhine. Some officials have accused aid agencies of supporting the insurgents.

Okoth-Obbo said he agreed with the Bangladeshi position that the most important solution was for the refugees to be able to return home in safety.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Tuesday the refugees would all have to go home and Myanmar should set up safe zones to enable them to do so.

“Under difficult circumstances this country has kept its borders open,” Okoth-Obbo said of Bangladesh.

“All of us should support that and ensure that the response is strong.”

0004899e Rohingya refugees walk through water after crossing border by boat through the Naf River in Teknaf, Bangladesh, September 7, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters): image by Jean Bosco SIBOMANA, 11 September 2017

Myanmar faces mounting pressure over Rohingya refugee exodus: Krishna N. Das, Reuters, 11 September 2017

COX‘S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Pressure mounted on Myanmar on Tuesday to end violence that has sent about 370,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh, with the United States calling for protection of civilians and Bangladesh urging safe zones to enable refugees to go home.

But China, which competes for influence in its southern neighbor with the United States, said it backed Myanmar’s efforts to safeguard “development and stability”.

The government of Buddhist-majority Myanmar says its security forces are fighting Rohingya militants behind a surge of violence in Rakhine state that began on Aug. 25, and they are doing all they can to avoid harming civilians.

The government says about 400 people have been killed in the fighting, the latest in the western state.

The top U.N. human rights official denounced Myanmar on Monday for conducting a “cruel military operation” against Rohingya, branding it “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

The United States said the violent displacement of the Rohingya showed Myanmar’s security forces were not protecting civilians. Washington has been a staunch supporter of Myanmar’s transition from decades of harsh military rule that is being led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

“We call on Burmese security authorities to respect the rule of law, stop the violence, and end the displacement of civilians from all communities,” the White House said in a statement.

Myanmar government spokesmen were not immediately available for comment but the foreign ministry said shortly before the U.S. statement was issued that Myanmar was also concerned about the suffering. Its forces were carrying out their legitimate duty to restore order in response to acts of extremism.

“The government of Myanmar fully shares the concern of the international community regarding the displacement and suffering of all communities affected by the latest escalation of violence ignited by the acts of terrorism,” the ministry said in a statement.

Myanmar’s government regards Rohingya as illegal migrants from Bangladesh and denies them citizenship, even though many Rohingya families have lived there for generations.

Attacks by a Rohingya insurgent group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), on police posts and an army base in the north of Rakhine on Aug. 25 provoked the military counter-offensive that refugees say is aimed at pushing Rohingya out of the country.

A similar but smaller wave of attacks by the same insurgents last October also sparked what critics called a heavy-handed response by the security forces that sent 87,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh.

Reports from refugees and rights groups paint a picture of widespread attacks on Rohingya villages in the north of Rakhine by the security forces and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, who have put numerous Muslim villages to the torch.

But Myanmar authorities have denied that the security forces, or Buddhist civilians, have been setting the fires, instead blaming the insurgents. Nearly 30,000 Buddhist villagers have also been displaced, they say.

0004899a0 Rohingya refugees wait for boat to cross a canal after crossing the border through the Naf river in Teknaf, Bangladesh, September 7, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters): image by Jean Bosco SIBOMANA, 11 September 2017

‘STOP THE VIOLENCE’

The U.N. Security Council is to meet on Wednesday behind closed doors for the second time during the crisis since Aug. 25. British U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said he hoped there would be a public statement agreed by the council on the crisis.

“It is important that the Security Council plays its role in responding,” said Sweden’s U.N. Ambassador Olof Skoog said on Tuesday. Britain and Sweden requested the meeting.

However, rights groups slammed the 15-member council for not holding a public meeting. Diplomats have said China and Russia would likely object to such a move and protect Myanmar if there was any push for council action to try and end the crisis.

“This is ethnic cleansing on a large scale it seems, and the Security Council can’t open its doors and stand in front of the cameras? It’s appalling, frankly,”

Human Rights Watch U.N. director Louis Charbonneau told reporters on Tuesday.

Sherine Tadros, head of Amnesty International in New York, said if the council doesn’t act “the price is being paid.”

“The danger is without some sort of public proclamation by Security Council members ... the message that you’re sending to the Myanmar government is deadly, and they will continue to do it,” Tadros told reporters.

The exodus to Bangladesh shows no sign of slowing with 370,000 the latest estimate, according to a U.N. refugee agency spokeswoman, up from an estimate of 313,000 on the weekend.

Bangladesh was already home to about 400,000 Rohingyas.

Many refugees are hungry and sick, without shelter or clean water in the middle of the rainy season. The United Nations said 200,000 children needed urgent support.

Two emergency flights organized by the U.N. refugee agency arrived in Bangladesh with aid for about 25,000 refugees. More flights are planned with the aim of helping 120,000, a spokesman said.

Worry is also growing about conditions inside Rakhine State, with fears a hidden humanitarian crisis may be unfolding. Myanmar has rejected a ceasefire declared by ARSA to enable the delivery of aid there, saying it did not negotiate with terrorists.

But Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Myanmar should set up safe zones to enable the refugees to go home.

“Myanmar will have to take back all Rohingya refugees who entered Bangladesh,” Hasina said on a visit to the Cox’s Bazar border district where she distributed aid.

"Myanmar has created the problem and they will have to solve it,“ she said, adding: ”We want peaceful relations with our neighbors, but we can’t accept any injustice.

“Stop this violence against innocent people.”

Myanmar has said those who can verify their citizenship can return but most Rohingya are stateless.

In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, “The international community should support Myanmar in its efforts to safeguard development and stability.”

Ethnic Muslim Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar follow the muddy path into Bangladesh: photo by Reuters, 9 September 2017

Scorched earth: A state-led massacre triggers an exodus of Rohingyas from Myanmar: The Burmese army is burning villages, and raping and killing their inhabitants: The Economist, 9 September 2017

Sep 9th 2017 | GHUMDUM, AZA KHAYA AND SHAH PORIR DWIP

Across the border, inside Myanmar, columns of smoke can be seen rising at dawn; each evening dusk reveals the fires at their bases. All week villages have been burning in northern Rakhine state, home of the Rohingyas, a persecuted Muslim minority. Refugees have been fleeing to Bangladesh across rice paddies, along muddy mountain paths and in boats over the Naf river, which divides the two countries. They are fleeing systematic violence from the Burmese army and armed mobs of Rakhines, another local ethnic group. The UN has counted 164,000 who have already arrived in Bangladesh; many more are thought to be on their way.

At the end of the Myanmar-Bangladesh Friendship Road, backed against the border fence near the town of Ghumdum, is a rapidly growing, makeshift camp holding some 5,000 new refugees. A Bangladeshi border guard points to a nearby hillock where a fire is raging; he says the Burmese army is burning down houses. Nurul Islam, a 30-year-old farmer, says he left his home in Razabil village in Myanmar last week when soldiers opened fire on villagers and set the houses on fire. Women and men were separated. Soldiers raped his 13-year-old sister Khadiza; mobs of Rakhines armed with swords mutilated her body. His father was also killed.

Fatima Khatun managed to escape her burning village and arrived in Bangladesh on September 4th with eight members of her family. She says many children and old people died on the week-long trek through the muddy monsoon-soaked hills. When she and others crossed a river inside Myanmar by clinging to bamboo rafts, soldiers opened fire on them. Many more villagers are hiding in Myanmar or have lost their way, she says.

At a nearby petrol station, Mohammad Jahangir explains that he has just arrived from the town of Taung Bazaar after a 13-day march. He is carrying his 8-year-old son, who cannot walk because of a bullet wound on his right leg.

Matthew Smith of Fortify Rights, an NGO, says that based on copious, detailed testimony from many witnesses, “We can now say with a high level of confidence that state-led security forces and local armed residents have committed mass killings.” It looks, says Mr Smith, as if the Burmese army is trying to drive all Rohingyas out of the country. Fortify Rights has documented many cases of indiscriminate killing, rape, mutilation and other crimes.

To the south of Ghumdum, at another border crossing, locals reckon 5,000 refugees have arrived that morning alone. One member of the exhausted procession is Sawza (who goes by one name), a health worker from the town of Buthidaung. She left her home on August 25th, the day the Burmese army went on the rampage in response to attacks by Rohingya militants that killed 12 policemen. At first, Sawza thought it would be safe for her family to stay. But when she heard that Zabar Khalimullah, a wealthy local, had been killed, she decided to flee. Unlike during another bout of violence last year, affluent landowning Rohingyas are leaving this time. Sawza says that during her 15-day journey she saw parents forced to abandon children who were too weak to keep walking and a man in his 50s who had to leave his 80-year-old father by the wayside.

Even farther south, on the beach at Shah Porir Dwip, the southernmost tip of Bangladesh, Roshida Begum climbs out of a wooden boat with a few belongings and what is left of her family. Burmese soldiers took away her daughters, who were 16 and 22, she says. She later found their mutilated bodies. Her husband was also killed. Farther along the beach is another group of 30 or so Rohingyas, who spent five days hiding in the hills before crossing to Bangladesh. Obaida Khatun, the oldest woman in the group, says that three of the young women with her were raped.

The narrow strip of Bangladesh that juts into the Bay of Bengal alongside Myanmar already hosts hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees from previous exoduses, in 1978 and 1991-92. They compete with locals for food, firewood, land and jobs. It is the poorest part of Bangladesh. Literacy in the region is 27%. Aid is arriving in dribs and drabs—food, water purifiers, tarpaulins—but not nearly enough. Among the throngs of refugees looking for shelter in the area this week was Zainab Begum, whose father was killed by Burmese soldiers. “Everything has turned to ashes,” she says.

Rohingya exodus puts pressure back on UN rights probe @Sara_Perria: image via IRIN News @irinnews, 13 September 2017

With 370,000 Rohingya in Bangladesh, close to half the Rohingya population of Northern Rakhine State has left. Govt figure for 2016: 755,371: image via LaetitiavandenAssum @lvandenassum, 12 September 2017

00048af6 Smoke is seen on Myanmar's side of border as an exhausted Rohingya refugee woman is carried to the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal, in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh September 11, 2017. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters): image by Jean Bosco SIBOMANA, 12 September 2017

00048af8 An exhausted Rohingya refugee woman touches the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal, in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh September 11, 2017. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters): image by Jean Bosco SIBOMANA, 12 September 2017

000488e7 A Rohingya refugee girl sits next to her mother who rests after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, in Teknaf, Bangladesh, September 6, 2017. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters): image by Jean Bosco SIBOMANA, 10 September 2017

000489a1Rohingya refugees walk on a muddy path after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh September 8, 2017. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters): image by Jean Bosco SIBOMANA, 11 September 2017

000488e6 A Rohingya refugee carries a child through a paddy field after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, in Teknaf, Bangladesh, September 6, 2017. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters): image by Jean Bosco SIBOMANA, 11 September 2017

000488e8 Rohingya refugees walk to the shore with their belongings after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal in Teknaf, Bangladesh, September 5, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters): image by Jean Bosco SIBOMANA, 10 September 2017

0004899f A man carries a Rohingya refugee woman from the shore after she crossed the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal in Teknaf, Bangladesh September 7, 2017. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters): image by Jean Bosco SIBOMANA, 11 September 2017

0004881a Rohingya refugees sit as they are temporarily held by the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in an open area after crossing the border, in Teknaf, Bangladesh, September 3, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters): image by Jean Bosco SIBOMANA, 11 September 2017

00048818 Rohingya refugees walk on the muddy path after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Teknaf, Bangladesh, September 3, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters): image by Jean Bosco SIBOMANA, 11 September 2017

Framing the Rohingya: Fake News

As Maungdaw burns, official narrative goes up in smoke: Nyan Hlaing Lynn, Frontier (Myanmar), 12 September 2017

Around the lush green paddy fields, herds of cattle and goats roam freely without their owners, set against a backdrop of the rolling Mayu Mountains. Off in the distance, occasional plumes of smoke can be seen sprouting up into the sky.

This is Maungdaw, the sparse district in northern Rakhine State that has been the scene of heightened security, and violence, for the better part of a year following the emergence of a militant group known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.

ARSA first made their presence known on October 9 last year, with attacks on Border Guard Police outposts that saw almost a dozen security officers killed. The attacks led to a months-long security operation that came with accusations of disproportionate force, a charge continuously denied by the military and civilian government.

Police officer on patrol in Alae Than Kyaw village in Maungdaw Township last week. (Nyan Hlaing Lynn | Frontier)

Police officer on patrol in Alae Than Kyaw village in Maungdaw Township last week.: photo by Nyan Hlaing Lynn via Frontier, 9 September 2017

After a period of relative calm, ARSA again launched attacks on the morning of August 25, just hours after the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, headed by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, submitted its final report to the Myanmar government.

Violence, fear and distrust have returned to northern Rakhine and the conflict at this point appears intractable.

I have had the opportunity to visit the region on two separate occasions. The first visit was immediately after the October 9 attacks and the second shortly after the latest uptick of violence started. Independent media face restrictions accessing the region and both of these visits were on media trips organised and tightly controlled by the government.

Our recent trip took place on September 6 and 7, with 18 journalists from domestic and international media visiting some of the communities affected by the latest violence. Due to time constraints, we were not able to get a full grasp of the situation on the ground, but the trip did offer some insights.

Staged photos

One of our first visits was to a small school on the outskirts of Maungdaw town that was being used as a camp for Hindus displaced by the violence.

“There’s no one around here. I’m scared,” said our first interviewee, a Hindu motorbike repairman.

The people there all told us that attacks had been launched by Muslims, forcing them to flee. They said they were taking shelter at the school, which was guarded by security forces, and were too scared to return to their homes. According to a government statement, three homes in their ward had been burned by ARSA extremists on August 26.

A photo provided to reporters that appeared to show Muslims burning their own homes. Evidence later emerged that the photos were staged. (Supplied): image via Frontier, 9 September 2017

From there we were taken to the Zawtikayon monastery, where a monk told us he had seen Muslims burning down homes nearby.

“When they set the houses on fire, I went and told them to stop,” the monk told us.

We were then shown photos apparently of the incident the monk had witnessed. They looked questionable. They showed men in Muslim-style caps burning down a thatched roof, as women – with what appeared to be tablecloths over their heads – stood nearby waving machetes.

Evidence later emerged that one woman in the photos was among the group of “displaced Hindus” we had earlier interviewed, while another man in the photos wearing a distinctive checked shirt and longyi had also been seen at the displacement camp.

Clearly, the photos had been staged.

A monk told reporters he had seen Muslims setting fire to homes, but evidence later emerged that the photos had been staged. (Nyan Hlaing Lynn | Frontier)

A monk told reporters he had seen Muslims setting fire to homes, but evidence later emerged that the photos had been staged.: photo by Nyan Hlaing Lynn | Frontier, 9 September 2017

Widespread distrust

We then visited a Muslim village called Shwe Zar. Before the violence, the village had been home to about 15,000 residents, but during our visit we saw just a handful of people walking along the street, and most of the doors to the homes were closed.

“There are people inside – no one fled from this village,” said local resident Roshi Amad, 59, who was concerned that his two sons, both who are in 10th standard, would not be allowed to return to school to complete their education.

“If people are allowed to do their business, their livelihoods, I think everything will be calm and peaceful,” Roshi Amad said.

Hindu residents fleeing the violence sparked by the August 25 attacks took refuge at a makeshift IDP camp in Maungdaw town. (Nyan Hlaing Lynn | AFP)

Hindu residents fleeing the violence sparked by the August 25 attacks took refuge at a makeshift IDP camp in Maungdaw town.: photo Nyan Hlaing Lynn | AFP via Frontier, 9 September 2017

When we asked him about the violence, he repeatedly told us he could not say anything. Many other villagers we tried to interview refused to speak with us, while others expressed concern that ARSA had taken root in their village.

“We don’t have terrorists. We don’t want violence,” said Mamad Zawli, 48, who later told us that the key to improving the situation would be for authorities to work closely with residents from all communities.

Mamad Zawli was the only Muslim we met during the trip who holds a National Registration Card, but even he cannot leave the village currently. One thing all the residents we met in the village agreed on was the fact that Muslims and Rakhine had lived and worked peacefully side by side before, but that the distrust was so strong that a return to normalcy was not possible for the time being.

He believes that the key to re-building trust in the region is for authorities and the local people to work side by side.

On the following day when we reached Myoma Kanyindan village, a Muslim betel seller told reporters that the government was not doing enough to resolve the situation.

“International assistance is needed. The government is not doing enough and now we can’t go anywhere,” said the vendor.

Charred villages

At Mawrawady village, we spoke to ethnic Rakhine who said they had been frequently threatened by Muslims living in surrounding villages. Originally home to about 600 residents, only about 120 remain, with the rest having fled for Maungdaw town or Sittwe.

“If [the violence] continues to happen, we can no longer live here,” said resident U San Hla Phyu, 57. “Formerly both communities were interdependent and worked and lived together. I can’t understand why violence suddenly erupted here.”

He called on the government to grant citizenship to those who can prove they qualify under the 1982 citizenship law and said those who cannot should be put into camps.

“We can live together with them,” he said.

At another village, Alethankyaw, Muslim and Rakhine residents had lived side by side, even after the October attacks. But that changed after the latest violence, when a Border Guard Police outpost was attacked, thousands of people fled and an immigration officer killed. Now, Alethankyaw is silent, except for ashes and smoke, and only a few residents remain.

The charred remains of homes in Alae Than Kyaw village. (Nyan Hlaing Lynn | Frontier)

The charred remains of homes in Alae Than Kyaw village: photo by Nyan Hlaing Lynn via Frontier, 9 September 2017

“I heard people shouting ‘Kill, kill’ nearby, and when I came out and looked I saw that they [ARSA] had captured more than half of the [police] camp,” said Daw Thet Thet recalling the events.

The attack appeared to pit neighbours against neighbours in some cases. Thet Thet told Frontier that she recognised some of those who had launched the attacks.

“I didn’t think the situation would be so bad,” she said.

Police-Lieutenant Aung Kyaw Moe, who oversees security in the village, said he had received a tip-off that an attack was being planned so moved the ethnic Rakhine and government staff to a nearby camp in advance.

Authorities then escorted the reporters along a nearby track. After half an hour we reached an area where damage from a recent fire had caused widespread devastation and sporadic sounds of gunfire could be heard in the distance.

We continued further along the track and eventually reached the top of a hill from where we could see the beautiful Bay of Bengal in the distance.

We then noticed a figure moving slowly towards us. As he got closer, we saw that it was a man carrying some belongings. Immediately upon seeing us, he sat down quickly and held up his hands.

His name was Haribraman, 55. He said he had been walking for two days from a village called Thawun Chaung that had witnessed fighting between security forces and ARSA. His family was following closely behind, he said, and he was hoping to take a boat to Bangladesh.

We left Haribraman to his journey and made our way back to the vehicles for the return journey to Maungdaw town. While travelling along the road, we passed a village that was on fire. After some negotiation with the authorities, we were allowed to stop.

The village was called Gawduthara and had been Muslim-majority before the residents had fled. We could see religious books, some with Arabic script, strewn across the floor. An empty plastic jug, smelling of petrol, was sitting on the floor.

A home in Gawduthara village ablaze on the afternoon of September 7. (Nyan Hlaing Lynn | Frontier)

A home in Gawduthara village ablaze on the afternoon of September 7: photo by Nyan Hlaing Lynn | Frontier, 7 September 2017

We could see no Muslims in the area, but we could see some people – who appeared to be Rakhine by their appearance – standing around watching in small groups. Some were holding swords or machetes. Frontier approached one of the unarmed men and asked what he had seen. He said he was from a nearby village and that “Bengalis” – a term many in Myanmar use to call the Muslim minority who identify as Rohingya – had set fire to their houses at 5am that morning.

I checked my watch. It was 1:44pm, almost nine hours after the man said the fires had been lit. It was clear that the fires flickering before us had been set much more recently than that.

Authorities have claimed that Muslims are setting fire to their own homes and blaming it on the military.

Colonel Phone Thit, state minister for security and border affairs, had previously told us that the “Bengali terrorists” had set fire to the villages to make local residents scared of them. “Their plans are successful if the villagers are displaced and the international community condemns the military,” he said.

“That’s why they set fire to the homes.”

But as I stood watching the flames, I recalled a conversation from a day earlier with the Muslim betel seller in Myoma Kanyindan village.

“It’s not like that,” he said, referring to reports that Muslims had set fire to their own homes. “We know who did it. It’s impossible for someone to set fire to their own home. Impossible.”

Framing the Rohingya: Their eyes are blank. They've seen everything. "Everything has turned to ashes."

Shoabib, 7, lies on the floor next to his father at Sadar Hospital in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Shoabib, 7, lies on the floor next to his father at Sadar Hospital in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. The 7-year-old Rohingya boy lies on a tattered mattress on the floor of a crowded government hospital in Bangladesh, bandages covering the spot where a bullet fired by Myanmar troops tore through his chest a week earlier. He is one of 80 Rohingya patients — most males with gunshot wounds — being treated at this overwhelmed medical facility in a coastal city now deluged with more than 300,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled a two-week surge in violence and a lifetime of persecution in neighboring Myanmar’s Rakhine state. He is the youngest of six patients with gunshot wounds interviewed by The Associated Press on two recent visits. “The soldiers just started firing. I saw my son on the ground,” the boy’s father Abu Tahir said. In the chaos that followed they lost track of the rest of their family before Tahir carried his son across the border to safety. Now he watches as his child’s ribs rise and fall in the hospital, praying that he recovers.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 10 September 2017

Rohingya men Abdul Karim lies on the floor at Sadar Hospital in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Rohingya man Abdul Karim lies on the floor at Sadar Hospital in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. Sadar Hospital is the main medical facility for the Cox’s Bazar area. At the best of times it’s stretched to the limit, with 20 doctors responsible for the treatment of hundreds of patients. Now it’s at nearly twice its capacity and for the first time its doctors are dealing with injuries like gunshot wounds, blunt force trauma and stab wounds on a massive scale as Rohingya refugees pour in. “We have never seen such violent injuries before,” said Dr. Shaheen Abdur Rahman Choudhury, the head of the hospital. The violence and exodus began on Aug. 25 when Rohingya insurgents attacked Myanmar police and paramilitary posts in what they said was an effort to protect their ethnic minority from persecution by security forces in the majority Buddhist country. In response, the military unleashed what it called “clearance operations” to root out the insurgents.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 10 September 2017

EDS NOTE GRAPHIC CONTENT - Rohingya men Abdul Karim lies on the floor at Sadar Hospital in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. Karim sustained severely bullet injuries on his left foot and chest when Myanmar monks and soldiers attacked his village. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Rohingya man Abdul Karim lies on the floor at Sadar Hospital in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. Karim sustained severe bullet injuries on his left foot and chest when Myanmar Buddhist monks and soldiers attacked his village. Accounts from refugees show the Myanmar military is targeting civilians with shootings and wholesale burning of Rohingya villages. Abdul Karim lies on a mat in a corner of the hospital. A mob of soldiers and Buddhist monks attacked his village in Rakhine state, set the houses on fire and sprayed the area with automatic gunfire that nearly blew off his left foot at the ankle. Another bullet wound marked his right shoulder. The stench from his ankle made clear that Karim would lose his foot. “We carried him on a blanket,” his brother Asir Ahmed said, pointing to his shoulders to indicate how the family carried Karim and walked for days to reach Bangladesh.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 10 September 2017

A Rohingya Muslim man holds a child with feveras they await treatment outside a clinic at Leda Refugee Camp, Bangladesh, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

A Rohingya Muslim man holds a child with fever as they await treatment outside a clinic at Leda Refugee Camp, Bangladesh, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. In the first week of the exodus, doctors at Sadar Hospital treated 30 Rohingya for gunshot wounds. The next week they treated another 50. The hospital is now setting up a separate area for the Rohingya and expects even more in the weeks and months ahead. Dr. Shaheen Abdur Rahman Choudhury, the head of the hospital, said he fears that there will be grievous injuries and deeply infected wounds as the refugees wade through filthy creeks and walk in the humid heat will no medical attention along the way. He said his hospital will need a lot more help and money if they are to cope with what lies ahead. “This is a desperate situation,” he said.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 9 September 2017

Rohingya woman Dildar Begum gets treatment at Sadar Hospital in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. Begum and her daughter Noor Kalima, not pictured, got stabbed by Myanmar soldiers and her husband was killed. In the camps it’s often hard to separate the anguish of the new arrivals from the suffering of those who have been here for years or decades. Outside Begum’s room a young Rohingya man stands, holding back tears. Kutupalong camp is the only home 22-year-old Farid has ever known. He was born here to parents who were part of the first wave of refugees to flee Myanmar. He says life in the wretched place makes him doubt his faith in God. He did not want to give his last name or be photographed because he has enrolled in a local school using fake Bangladeshi documents. As a refugee he is only given education up to the fifth grade. “There is nothing, nothing here ... no doctors, clean water, education,” he said, rage and helplessness coursing through his skinny body. He wants to be a doctor. He wants to break out of the cycle of misery his people have been trapped in for decades.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 10 September 2017

Newly arrived Rohingya stretch out their hands to receive puffed rice food rations donated by local volunteers in Kutupalong, Bangladesh, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 9 September 2017

Kifawet Ullah is helped by other newly arrived Rohingya after he collapsed while waiting to have his token validated in order to collect a bag of rice distributed by aid agencies in Kutupalong, Bangladesh, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. In Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest and most crowded countries, these people say they finally feel safe. But hunger and illness are a constant presence. With the influx pushing existing Rohingya refugee camps like this one to the brink, Bangladesh has pledged to build at least one more. But it’s unclear when that will happen. “Our teams are seeing streams of people arriving destitute and extremely traumatized,” including many in need of urgent medical care for violence-related injuries, the aid group Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said in a statement.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 9 September 2017

An elderly Rohingya Muslim, who recently crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, arrives at a food distribution center in Kutupalong, Bangladesh, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. The International Organization for Migration has pleaded for $18 million in donations to help feed and shelter tens of thousands now packed into makeshift settlements or stranded in a no-man’s land between the two countries’ borders. In the Kutupalong camp, reporters saw several newly arrived children burning with high fevers. At the Cox’s Bazar district government hospital, four Rohingya men with gunshot wounds described Myanmar soldiers entering their villages and randomly opening fire. The hospital said it was treating 31 other men with gunshot wounds. Myanmar’s government has denied any abuses by its troops and instead says it is fighting terrorists. It says a group of Rohingya insurgents and villagers themselves set fire to their own homes in Rakhine state.It offers no explanation of why an already miserable and impoverished group of people would destroy their own homes and exhaust their meagre savings to take treacherous journeys to an unknown land for a life of extreme uncertainty.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 9 September 2017

Rohingya Muslims, newly arrived from Myanmar, scuffle for puffed rice food rations donated by local volunteers in Kutupalong, Bangladesh, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 9 September 2017

Rohingya Muslims, who have recently crossed over the border from Myanmar into Bangladesh, offer Friday prayers at a makeshift mosque in Kutupalong, Bangladesh, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 8 September 2017

In this Sept. 5, 2017 photo, newly arrived Rohingya rest in a makeshift tent in Kutupalong, Bangladesh. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

In this Sept. 5, 2017 photo, newly arrived Rohingya rest in a makeshift tent in Kutupalong, Bangladesh.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 5 September 2017

Newly arrived Rohingya try to get their tokens validated in order to collect a bag of rice distributed by aid agencies in Kutupalong, Bangladesh, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 9 September 2017

A Rohingya man stretches his arms out for food distributed by local volunteers, with bags of puffed rice stuffed into his vest at Kutupalong, Bangladesh, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 9 September 2017

A Rohingya boy stands near bamboo poles used for building tents at a new refugee camp in Ukhia, Bangladesh, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

A Rohingya boy stands near bamboo poles used for building tents at a new refugee camp in Ukhia, Bangladesh, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 9 September 2017

Newly arrived Rohingyas mourn by the body of a family member Ali Akbar, 70, in a makeshift tent in Kutupalong, Bangladesh, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. According to family members, Akbar was shot in the hand and beaten with rifle butts by Myanmar soldiers before the family escaped to Bangladesh. He died today.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 8 September 2017

Newly arrived Rohingya wait to collect water from a tube well that was installed a few days ago, as a boy bathes beside them, at Ukhia, Bangladesh, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 9 September 2017

Rohingya scuffle to get clothes from local volunteers Kutupalong, Bangladesh, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Rohingya scuffle to get clothes from local volunteers Kutupalong, Bangladesh, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 8 September 2017

A Rohingya man holds the body of a two-day-old baby before his burial at Kutupalong's refugee camp cemetery, Sept. 8, 2017, Bangladesh. On Friday, two infants were interred there. A six-day-old baby, who was born on the road as his family escaped, was buried next to the two-day-old child born to a woman from the old camp.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 8 September 2017

In this Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017 photo, 25-year-old Rohingya Muslim woman Zahida Begum cradles her few-hours-old son who she gave birth to alone in the toilet outside the room, as her husband Abdur Rahman mixes a plate of rice for his wife at Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh. Rahman had to leave his ailing wife and go search for food. He came back with the plate of rice and small bowl of curry. That food is the first food his wife and son shared all day. Myanmar’s government refuses to recognize Rohingya as a minority group and denies them citizenship, even though about 1 million were living there until two weeks ago and many families had been there for generations. The exodus of Rohingya like Begum into neighboring Bangladesh is massive in scale. The United Nations says 270,000 have crossed over since Aug. 25. But it’s really impossible to accurately count how many have come. Every single day thousands upon thousands enter Bangladesh. They cross the Naf river that runs between Myanmar and Bangladesh on rickety wooden boats. The journey is especially dangerous now because the river is swollen from months of monsoon rains. Others cross the land border between the two countries, walking for days through forests to escape detection.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 7 September 2017

In this Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017 photo, 25-year-old ethnic Rohingya Muslim woman Zahida Begum cradles her few-hours-old son who she gave birth to alone in the toilet outside the room, in the sprawling expanse of squalid shanties and tents that is Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh. Begum had crossed into Bangladesh on Sept. 1, with her two young sons, husband and mother, fleeing shootings and arson attacks by Myanmar army soldiers and local Buddhist monks. Through hours of walking through this massive refugee camp, set up in the early 90s to accommodate the first waves of Rohingya Muslim refugees who started escaping convulsions of violence and persecution in Myanmar, Associated Press reporters could not spot a single doctor. There are no clinics or pharmacies or even basic first aid centers. Her family having spent all their money on smugglers who helped them cross the Naf river to safety, Zahida Begum now sits afraid and unsure of what will come next. The massive Kutupalong refugee camp of tiny mud houses covered with plastic sheets, with its overpowering stench of rotting food and feces, is now her home. She gave birth alone, in the toilet outside the room, says her mother, Dildar Begum. The baby has not been fed since his birth 10 hours ago. She’s feverish and shivers so much that her mother lit a small, smoky fire to warm her up. She is still bleeding from the birth. No doctor is in sight in the camp, set up in the early 1990s to accommodate earlier waves of Muslim Rohingya refugees escaping from convulsions of violence and persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. There are no clinics or pharmacies or even basic first aid centers. New arrivals like Begum and her family survive on the kindness of older refugees and on food handouts from local volunteers and aid groups: rice and curry once a day if they are lucky. “She’s been crying from hunger,” her mother said of her weak and ailing daughter. Begum simply stares. Her eyes are blank.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 7 September 2017

In this Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017 photo, 25-year-old ethnic Rohingya Muslim woman Zahida Begum cradles her few-hours-old son who she gave birth to alone in the toilet outside the room, in the sprawling expanse of squalid shanties and tents that is Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh. Begum had crossed into Bangladesh on Sept. 1, with her two young sons, husband and mother, fleeing shootings and arson attacks by Myanmar army soldiers and local Buddhist monks. Through hours of walking through this massive refugee camp, set up in the early 90s to accommodate the first waves of Rohingya Muslim refugees who started escaping convulsions of violence and persecution in Myanmar, Associated Press reporters could not spot a single doctor. There are no clinics or pharmacies or even basic first aid centers. Her family having spent all their money on smugglers who helped them cross the Naf river to safety, Zahida Begum now sits afraid and unsure of what will come next. The massive Kutupalong refugee camp of tiny mud houses covered with plastic sheets, with its overpowering stench of rotting food and feces, is now her home. She gave birth alone, in the toilet outside the room, says her mother, Dildar Begum. The baby has not been fed since his birth 10 hours ago. She’s feverish and shivers so much that her mother lit a small, smoky fire to warm her up. She is still bleeding from the birth. No doctor is in sight in the camp, set up in the early 1990s to accommodate earlier waves of Muslim Rohingya refugees escaping from convulsions of violence and persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. There are no clinics or pharmacies or even basic first aid centers. New arrivals like Begum and her family survive on the kindness of older refugees and on food handouts from local volunteers and aid groups: rice and curry once a day if they are lucky. “She’s been crying from hunger,” her mother said of her weak and ailing daughter. Begum simply stares. Her eyes are blank.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 7 September 2017

Rohingya men dig a grave in Kutupalong's refugee camp's cemetery, Bangladesh, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Rohingya men dig a grave in Kutupalong's refugee camp's cemetery, Bangladesh, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017.: photo by Bernat Armangue/AP, 8 September 2017

000488e8 Rohingya refugees walk to the shore with their belongings after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal in Teknaf, Bangladesh, September 5, 2017

00048790 People cover the bodies of Rohingya refugee women and children who died after their boat capsized while crossing the border through the Bay of Bengal, at Shah Porir Dwip, near Teknaf, Bangladesh, August 31, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters): image by Jean Bosco SIBOMANA, 10 September 2017

00048866 A Rohingya family reaches the Bangladesh border after crossing a creek of the Naf river on the border with Myanmar, in Cox's Bazar's Teknaf area, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue): image by Jean Bosco SIBOMANA, 11 September 2017

A Rohingya family reaches the Bangladesh border after crossing a creek of the Naf river on the border with Myanmar, in Cox's Bazar's Teknaf area, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue): image by Jean Bosco SIBOMANA, 11 September 2017

Bengali (Border of the Frame)

Dhaka Street #146 a city belongs them | by سلطان محمود

Dhaka Street #146 a city belongs to them. It's a city, a city of dreams, a city of love, and a city of garbage.: photo by Mahmood Sultan, 8 September 2017