A/HRC/42/CRP.5 movement restrictions have only increased the reliance of IDPs on humanitarian assistance.202 (a) Construction 116. The human rights crisis that the Rohingya remaining in Rakhine state are facing is in large part due to the Government’s confiscation and re-appropriation of land they once lived on and cultivated. This is in addition to the Government’s clearance and destruction of Rohingya lands during its 2017 “clearance operations”. According to a UNOSAT assessment, from the start of the “clearance operations” that began in August 2017, up until April 2019, 214 Rohingya settlements were completely or almost completely (more than 90 per cent) destroyed and another 202 settlements were partially destroyed. UNOSAT estimates that 40,600 structures were destroyed in these 416 settlements.203 117. The Government of Myanmar established the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine (UEHRD) in response to widespread international condemnation of the August 2017 “clearance operations” in northern Rakhine State. The UEHRD is a public-private partnership for implementing government policy in Rakhine State. Its stated aims are to provide humanitarian assistance to violence-affected populations and facilitate the return of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh. It has an Infrastructure Development and Construction task force for renovating buildings and undertaking new construction in partnership with private companies. The UEHRD is chaired by State Counsellor, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, with the Union Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, Dr. Win Myat Aye, as vice chair.204 118. As outlined under the UEHRD Action Plan, the Ministry of Construction leads village development and Regional and State governments, carry out village construction, as well as the Infrastructure Development and Construction task force and the Ministry of Construction, using UEHRD funds. Donations for building new homes for victims of conflict are also accepted from private individuals and local foundations.205 Available information indicates that the UEHRD has engaged crony companies for these construction projects206 and that these companies and their leaders, with enduring links to the Tatmadaw, are financing UEHRD development projects in northern Rakhine.207 In her keynote remarks to an investment fair sponsored by Japan in Rakhine State on 22 February 2019, State Counsellor, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, said, For too long the international community’s attention has been focused narrowly on negative aspects related to problems in north Rakhine rather than on the panoramic picture that shows the immense potential of this state for peace and prosperity.208 119. The FAO and WFP also reported in July 2019 that the Ministry for the Progress of Border Areas and National Races (now the Ministry of Border Affairs) constructed new “model villages” to host relocated “Burmese and Arakan people” on confiscated land in northern Rakhine.209 These villages, the report concluded, were mostly concentrated around 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 36 FFFGEN-1-86988. Satellite imagery analysis prepared for the Mission by UNITAR-UNOSAT indicates that the number of structures is likely underestimated by about 10%. Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine, available from http://rakhine.unionenterprise.org/index.php/about-uehrd. UEHRD Action Plan. For a definition of “crony company”, see the Mission’s conference room paper on “The economic interests of Myanmar’s Military”, A/HRC/42/CRP.3, para. 75. A/HRC/42/CRP.3, para. 6(c). Reuters, Myanmar's Suu Kyi woos investors to crisis-hit Rakhine, decries "negative" focus, 22 February 2019. FAO/WFP, the 2018 Agriculture and Food Security Mission to Rakhine State, available from http://www.fao.org/3/ca5330en/ca5330en.pdf.

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