Yahoo – AFP,
Marion THIBAUT, October 29, 2017
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| In Myanmar, there are fears the Rohingya refugee crisis could throw the country's fledgling tourism sector back to the dark days under military rule (AFP Photo/Ye Aung THU) |
Only a few
years ago Beyonce and Jay-Z were posing for photos among Myanmar's famed
temples, heralding the former junta-run country's rise as one of the hottest
new tourist destinations on the map.
But that
dream is cracking as images of burnt villages and Muslim Rohingya fleeing
army-led violence in western Rakhine shock the globe, sparking outrage over a
staggering scale of human suffering that has festered along the border.
Ever since
the bloodshed broke out in late August, tourism operators have witnessed a
cascade of cancellations, rippling fear through a nascent industry that was
gearing up for its high season in October.
"Almost
all the trips scheduled for October and November have been cancelled due to
instability in the country, because of the situation in Rakhine state,"
said Tun Tun Naing from New Fantastic Asia Travels and Tour, an agency that
leads trips to the pristine beaches and mist-shrouded lakes that dot the lush
country.
"Most
groups in Japan, Australia and other Asian countries cited security reasons and
some Europeans have clearly said they boycotted because of the humanitarian
situation," he told AFP.
In Yangon,
a bustling city known for its crumbling colonial architecture, some foreign
tourists could still be seen circling the gilded Shwedagon Pagoda that looms
over the former capital.
But they
admitted that the ongoing crisis is an awkward backdrop for their holiday.
"It's
very sad to see what the country is becoming, our guide told us that Muslims
were dangerous and that they were not Burmese," said French tourist
Christine, who declined to give her surname, of a crisis that has spiked
religious tensions in the Buddhist majority country.
Some
distinguished guests are also keeping their distance, with Prince Charles, heir
to the British throne, and his wife Camilla deciding to skip a stop in the
former colony during an autumn tour of Asia.
One step
forward, two back?
There are
fears the refugee crisis could throw Myanmar's fledgling tourism sector back to
the dark days under military rule, when many travellers passed over the pariah
state to avoid lining the pockets of generals who brutally suppressed human
rights.
All that
had started to change after the army initiated a transition to partial
democracy in 2011.
The move
saw Western sanctions lifted as foreign tourists flocked to landscapes
unspoiled by the crowds and travel infrastructure that has mushroomed elsewhere
in the region.
The first
half of 2017 kicked off well with a 22 percent increase in visitors compared to
the previous year, according to figures from the Ministry of Tourism, which
hopes to double the number of annual arrivals to 7.5 million by 2020.
But at the
end of August, western Rakhine state was in flames.
Raids by
mobs of poorly-armed Rohingya militants prompted a military backlash so brutal
the UN says it likely amounts to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority.
More than
half a million Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh in two months,
carrying testimony of killings, rape and arson at the hands of soldiers and
Buddhist mobs.
Their
chilling stories, alongside photos of gaunt and weary refugees cramming into
Bangladesh's ramshackle refugee camps, have seized headlines around the globe
and cast a pall over the young democracy's rise.
A few hours
south of the conflict zone in Rakhine state lies Mrauk-U, an ancient capital
and hallowed archaeological site.
Two months
into the crisis, locals say the site is empty of the tourists normally buzzing
around its ruins.
"All
people who live on tourism are out of work now," guide Aung Soe Myint told
AFP.
Myanmar's tourism dreams crushed by Rohingya crisis https://t.co/D6vgGwq1Xq pic.twitter.com/8vyLTxjRrH— AFP news agency (@AFP) October 29, 2017
