Myanmar authorities convert Rohingya land into security facilities, UN report says News
Daniel Schearf and Zinlat Aung, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Myanmar authorities convert Rohingya land into security facilities, UN report says

The UN Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) said Monday that Myanmar’s Ministry of Home Affairs, Border Guard Police (BGP), and private corporations have benefited from the destruction and dispossession of Rohingya property during the military’s 2017 operations in Rakhine State.

In a public summary released on Monday, the IIMM documented how Rohingya homes, mosques, shops, and farmland were destroyed after residents fled and were then repurposed for BGP bases and related infrastructure. The report, titled The Destruction and Dispossession of Rohingya Land and Property during the 2017 Clearance Operations–Public Summary, relied on witness accounts, satellite imagery, videos, and official records.

The report explored specific areas affected, like the Myo Thu Gyi village tract, where more than 800 structures once stood. By 2018, over 411 acres of Rohingya land in the region had been razed and replaced by a BGP base.

The mechanism named Asia World Company, among corporations that constructed bases, roads, and security outposts on seized land. It concluded that the Ministry of Home Affairs financed and directed the expansion of BGP facilities, while the BGP directly occupied confiscated property.

The IIMM emphasized the implications for Rohingya return, stating that “in many cases…their homes, even their villages, no longer exist,” and that restitution or assistance is required to enable safe, voluntary, dignified, and sustainable repatriation.

The 2017 military campaign forced more than 700,000 Rohingya across the border into Bangladesh, adding to decades of displacement and persecution of the Muslim minority. UN investigators previously described the operations as carried out with “genocidal intent.” Proceedings against Myanmar are ongoing before the International Court of Justice, where The Gambia has accused the country of violating the Genocide Convention, and before the International Criminal Court, which is examining alleged crimes including deportation across an international border.

The IIMM, created by the UN Human Rights Council in 2018, said it will continue to collect, analyze, and preserve evidence to support accountability efforts at international, regional, and national levels.

The public version of the report summarizes findings from a more detailed confidential document, which includes specific company and individual names preserved as evidence. The IIMM said it will make this material available to competent authorities for potential prosecutions or reparations.

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