Burma’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi delivered a speech in Naypyidaw on September 19 addressing the crisis that has forced more than 400,000 Rohingya to flee the country. She claimed that since September 5, there had been “no armed clashes and there have been no clearance operations” – but Human Rights Watch’s satellite analysis detected dozens of active fires in Rakhine state over the past few weeks. On September 13, Human Rights Watch researchers across the border in Bangladesh saw the Rohingya village of Taung Pyo Let Yar burn.

Suu Kyi: clearance operations/clashes ended 9/5. On 9/13 @hrw watched village burn. 2 mil trucks, soldiers present. https://t.co/RxAaxYxkyZ pic.twitter.com/9e5VFhQvQv
— Richard Weir (@rich_weir) September 19, 2017

“Aung San Suu Kyi seems to find it mysterious that more than 400,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Burma. But there is no mystery – the Burmese military’s campaign of mass arson, killing, and looting is unrelenting ethnic cleansing. Rather than offer propaganda tours, she should welcome the UN fact-finding mission. Rather than falsely claim basic rights are protected in Rakhine State, she should act to punish those responsible for atrocities and bring Rohingya refugees safely back home,” said Executive Director Kenneth Roth.

“Unfortunately, Aung San Suu Kyi seems to be part of the problem. The solution is for world leaders gathered at the UN to take all necessary steps to impose targeted sanctions on Burmese commanders responsible for grave abuses and an arms embargo on the military.”