Myanmar government: Almost 40% of Rohingya villages are now empty

Almost 40% of all Rohingya villages in Myanmar’s Rakhine State are now empty, a government spokesperson has confirmed.

More than 370,000 Rohingya – many of them women and children – have fled to Bangladesh to escape violence since August 25, according to the United Nations, an average of almost 20,000 a day. The refugees speak of indiscriminate clearance operations, huts set on fire and family members being taken away and never heard from again.

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02:30 - Source: CNN

Zaw Htay, a spokesman for Myanmar’s Presidential Office, said the reason people abandoned their homes was because many were told to leave by family members who were involved in terrorist activities.

“Some of them are directly involved with terrorist activities and some are sympathizers for the terrorist group,” Zaw Htay wrote in an email to CNN. “And some are running away to avoid arrest by police because they had some connections with the terrorist group.”

The government says 176 out of 471, or 37.4% of all Rohingya villages are now empty of people, and an additional 34 villages were “partially abandoned.”

Prior to the current wave of violence, Myanmar’s population of Rohingya was estimated to number about 1 million, with the majority clustered in small often isolated villages in the northern part of Rakhine State along the border with Bangladesh and India.

Myanmar’s government maintains that the actions of its military are a necessary measure to protect against “terrorist activities” in Rahkine State by Rohingya militants.

Communities ripped apart

Among the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees pouring across the border into Bangladesh, stories of murder, rape and devastation are common.

Some have been injured by landmines they accuse Myanmar of planting along the border, while others described people being tortured to death or burned alive.

The United Nations said the crisis has left at least 1,000 people dead.

Rohingya children wait to receive food from an aid group at a refugee camp in Ukhiya, Bangladesh, on Tuesday, November 14. More than 600,000 of the Rohingya Muslim minority group from Myanmar's Rakhine state have fled to Bangladesh, according to the United Nations.

Rohingya Muslims paddle a makeshift raft as they cross the Naf River from Myanmar into Bangladesh on November 12. Human rights activists consider the Rohingya to be among the world's most persecuted people.

A young Rohingya refugee begs for food through the glass of a car window at Balukhali refugee camp in Bangladesh on October 7.

Rohingya refugees carry their belongings across muddy waters at a camp on October 5.

Rohingya refugees mourn beside the bodies of relatives who died when a boat capsized in late September.

Sona Banu is carried ashore on September 27 by Nobi Hossain after crossing the Naf River by boat from Myanmar to near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

Dildar Begum, a Rohingya woman, and her daughter, Noor Kalima, recover from injuries at Sadar Hospital in Cox's Bazar after fleeing their home in Rakhine state.

Burnt villages are visible near Maungdaw in Myanmar's Rakhine state on September 27.

People scramble to catch food distributed by aid groups on September 18 at the Balukhali refugee camp in Bangladesh.

Rohingya refugees take cover from monsoon rains on September 17 in the Balukhali refugee camp in Bangladesh.

A Bangladeshi border guard keeps watch September 16 near the beach of Sharapuri Dwip, where many Rohingya refugees land after crossing from Myanmar.

Rohingya refugees disembark from a boat on September 13 on the Bangladeshi side of the Naf River.