Myanmar harvests Rohingya fields

YANGON: Myanmar’s government began harvesting rice from farmland abandoned by Rohingya in northern Rakhine on Saturday, officials said, a move likely to raise concerns about the prospect of return for more than half a million refugees who have fled communal violence in the area.

The border region has been emptied of most of its Muslim residents since late August, when Myanmar’s military launched a crackdown on Rohingya rebels that the UN says likely amounts to ethnic cleansing.