MYANMAR is still destroying Rohingya villages despite last month’s agreement with Bangladesh allowing refugees to return home, New York-based Human Rights Watch charged yesterday.

More than 630,000 Rohingya have fled into Bangladesh since the Myanmar army began “clearance operations” after a group of Rohingya insurgents attacked police posts.

Refugees reported their homes being set ablaze by soldiers and Buddhist mobs, while some claimed to have been shot at.

Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an agreement in late November, covering the return of Rohingya who crossed the border to escape the violence in Rakhine.

“Satellite imagery confirms that dozens of buildings were burned the same week” the agreement was signed, HRW said yesterday.

HRW Asia director Brad Adams said the destruction showed that “commitments to safe returns were just a public relations stunt.”