These photos have circulated since 2017 in reports about Rohingya villages burned down
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on September 27, 2021 at 04:36
- 4 min read
- By AFP Thailand
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The photos were published on August 19 in a Facebook post that has been shared more than 23,000 times.
The post's Burmese-language caption reads: "18.08.2021 At night, the junta forces robbed and set fire to Sa Pho Ji village in Kani township. They stole phones and cash. A pregnant lady was shot in the leg."
Kani was one of the first townships which saw protests against the military junta after it ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February, Myanmar media site Irrawaddy reported.
The misleading post circulated online after Myanmar's ambassador to the United Nations alerted the organisation to a "reported massacre" by the junta following the discovery of 40 bodies in Kani in July.
The photos circulated in similar Facebook posts here, here and here.
However, the images have been shared in a misleading context.
First photo
A reverse image search on Google found the first photo published here by Bangladesh's The Independent newspaper on September 15, 2017 in an article called, "Satellite images of burning Rohingya villages".
"Rights group Amnesty International has released satellite images which it says show an "orchestrated campaign" to burn Rohingya villages in western Myanmar, reports BBC," the article reads.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the photo in the misleading Facebook post (left) and the Independent’s photo (right):
Second photo
Another reverse image search found the second image published here on a blog in July 2021 alongside other graphic photos.
The blog post’s headline reads: "Aftermath of Sa Pho Ji village in Kani township after being raided by the junta forces".
AFP could not independently confirm whether the image was genuinely taken in Sa Pho Ji village.
Third photo
Another reverse image search on Google found the third photo published here by news site Clarion India on September 23, 2017.
The headline reads: "Rohingya Villages In Myanmar Still Being Burned: Amnesty".
"New satellite images and videos from Myanmar’s Rakhine state show smoke rising from Rohingya Muslim villages, contradicting State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s claims that military operations there have ended, according to Amnesty International," it reports.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in the misleading Facebook post (left) and the photo published by Clarion India (right):
Fourth photo
A further reverse image search on Google for the fourth photo found this image published by Reuters news agency on August 17, 2018.
The headline reads: "U.S. imposes sanctions on Myanmar military over Rohingya crackdown".
The photo caption reads: "Rohingya refugees, who crossed the border from Myanmar two days before, walk after they received permission from the Bangladeshi army to continue on to the refugee camps, in Palang Khali, near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh October 19, 2017. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File Photo".
Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in the misleading Facebook post (left) and the Reuters photo (right):
AFP has previously debunked posts falsely purporting to show images of post-coup violence in Myanmar, including here and here.
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