Figure 3: Map of Kyaukpyu Project route,
including ethnic fighting linked to pipeline development.
Source: EATLAS, 2019.
Amnesty International has reported that not only are military clearance operations
driven by a need to secure specific portions of land for economic infrastructure
development, there is an additional motive to be considered. The report by Amnesty
International, titled Remaking Rakhine State (2018) includes:
. . . satellite imagery and interviews to point to a rapid increase in military
infrastructure and other construction since the start of the year that
researchers say amounts to a “land grab.” “The new evidence and the
rebuilding that Amnesty has documented . . . shows that the Myanmar
authorities [Tatmadaw] are building over the top of the very places the
Rohingya need to return to,” Tirana Hassan, Amnesty’s crisis response
director, told AFP . . . . The rights group says structures for security
forces, helipads, and even roads have been built in and around torched
Rohingya properties. (Amnesty International Report, 2018)
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