8/8/22, 9:18 PM New evidence shows how Myanmar's military planned the Rohingya purge “I regret some situations,” said Moe Myint, who left Myanmar for exile in the United States after the coup, fearing he would be arrested as part of a media crackdown by the junta. “I had to consider my safety, and then I was unable to publish all the issues that happened in Rakhine state.” In response to questions, an editor at the Irrawaddy said: “We are never reluctant to publish stories as long as they have been thoroughly verified and the reporter’s safety is not threatened.” In September 2017, Moe Myint joined a tour organized by authorities to a village just outside Maungdaw town in Rakhine state where officials said several young Rakhine men had been killed by Muslims. He reported the killings in an article for The Irrawaddy, portraying them as the work of militants. But later, he said, Rakhine villagers told him that the slain men were killed when they took part in a military-led assault on a Rohingya village. “Actually, we overlooked the situation,” he said. It was “quite clear that the military used” Rakhine residents to get information and “participate in military operations.” He did not report this at the time, he said. It was difficult to verify information on the ground, he was wary of public opinion given strong anti-Rohingya sentiment, and his editors were reluctant to publish such information, he explained. In December that year, he witnessed the aftermath of an attack by a mob of Rakhine people who had torn down a mosque and burned homes belonging to Rohingya in the village of Zay Di Pyin. A second reporter who was there, and spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, confirmed the account. Moe Myint said the men destroyed the mosque, which was close to a police station, using heavy machinery. He snapped some photos of people taking bricks and other materials from the rubble and was leaving when a crowd surrounded him and his colleague. “Some people were drunk and they shouted to kill us,” Moe Myint said. He and his colleague were handed over to the police, who detained them. Though they were eventually released, Moe Myint said he was warned by a senior Rakhine politician that he should never talk publicly about what had happened. “There are many untold stories,” he said. How Reuters corroborated the Rohingya purge documents https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/myanmar-rohingya-warcrimes-investigation/ 32/34