A/HRC/42/CRP.5 Maungdaw Township and “were part of a scheme to remodel the demographics of Northern Rakhine State”.210 Deprivation of Rohingya-owned and cultivated land 120. The forced deportation of over 812,000 Rohingya from Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung Townships in 2016 and 2017 has significantly depopulated northern Rakhine.211 Prior to the clearance operations, Rakhine State was home to 1.2 million Rohingya – with two thirds residing in Buthidaung, Maungdaw and Rathedaung Townships.212 There are now estimated to be 600,000 Rohingya left, of which 126,000 are IDPs and the remaining non-displaced population is scattered across 10 Townships in central and northern Rakhine.213 In a highly agrarian area, this has meant that large areas of agricultural land have been left unattended to and unharvested.214 121. The Myanmar Government, including through the UEHRD, has adopted several measures that have resulted in the large-scale confiscation of land where Rohingya had lived and farmed and in the appropriation of profits from that land into the national budget, under Union Government policy. One measure has been the harvesting of untended rice paddies by government personnel, in collaboration with private sector companies, under the auspices of the UEHRD.215 According to an official statement from the UEHRD information and communications office, another measure has involved Agriculture Mechanisation Department personnel, including additional staff from Sagaing and Mandalay States, recording ownership of paddies, plot numbers and quantity harvested, so that any rice or profit could be returned to the “original owners”. 216 However, according to the Rakhine State Chief Minister, the proceeds of sale of the harvest from 70,000 acres of rice paddies in Maungdaw Township will be transferred to the national budget. The Chief Minister was quoted as saying, “We don’t want the paddies to go to waste so we are doing our utmost to quickly reap them and plus this can contribute to the national budget as well. The money that we receive from sales of these crops will be used in this state’s development. We have already signed a contract with [a local buyer]… We are currently reaping the paddies in Rathedaung and southern Maungdaw, and we will eventually head towards Buthidaung. As per the contract, money from the sales of the paddies will be deposited in a bank account as part of the national budget. As to how the money will be utilised will depend on the policies and guidelines the Union Government puts forward.” 217 122. Prior to the 2016 and 2017 “clearance operations”, 80 per cent of the population of Maungdaw Township was Rohingya. In Rakhine State, 85 per cent of agricultural land under cultivation was used for rice paddy cultivation.218 The Myanmar Rice Federation and Myanmar Agribusiness Public Cooperation were involved in the harvesting of Rohingya owned and cultivated land in 2017 and 2018. The General Secretary of the Myanmar Rice Federation stated that, to assist the UEHRD, the Myanmar Rice Federation would provide 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 FAO/WFP, the 2018 Agriculture and Food Security Mission to Rakhine State, available from http://www.fao.org/3/ca5330en/ca5330en.pdf. A/HRC/39/CRP.2, paras. 1488-1489. UNHCR, Culture, Context and Mental Health of Rohingya Refugees, available from https://www.unhcr.org/5bbc6f014.pdf. UNICEF, Investing in children should be the foundation of Myanmar’s progress and development, 31 January 2019, available from https://www.unicef.org/eap/press-releases/investing-children-should-befoundation-myanmars-progress-and-development. Nikkei Asian Review, Rohingya crisis starves Myanmar's farms of workers, 26 May 2018, available from https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Rohingya-crisis-starves-Myanmar-s-farms-of-workers. Consult-Myanmar, UEHRD says Rakhine harvest will be returned to owners, 16 November 2017, available from https://consult-myanmar.com/2017/11/16/uehrd-says-rakhine-harvest-will-bereturned-to-owners/. Ibid. Myanmar Times, UEHRD says Rakhine harvest will be returned to owners, 14 November 2017, http://www.fao.org/3/ca5330en/ca5330en.pdf;https://www.dica.gov.mm/sites/ dica.gov.mm/files/news-files/report_on_rsios_for_printing_20190215_english.pdf 37