Satellites track 'removed' Burma villages

By Lauren Howey
BBC News, UN in New York

Burma's landscape changes. Photos: AAAS Enlarge Image

A satellite photographs a cluster of homes in the Burmese jungle. Seven months later, the village is gone.

But the image remains, a document of the demolition of homes and the displacement of people by the military regime.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) presented these images at the UN this week during a panel discussion on human rights abuses in Burma.

These high-resolution pictures can be used to track patterns of destruction and relocation, new construction and military expansion.

Thanks to this "geospatial technology", non-governmental organisations have partnered with scientific groups to chart rights abuses in inaccessible countries.

Satellite images have previously been used to track forced relocations in Zimbabwe and Darfur.

Image pairs

The AAAS has created its own human rights department, dedicated to merging on-the-ground reports with satellite evidence.

Lars Bromley, director of the project, told a UN audience this week: "Over the past year, we have tracked 25 sites of interest, including 18 possibly removed villages."

We immediately scheduled a satellite photo, waited for the clouds to move, and got it Lars Bromley, AAAS

To analyse evidence, Mr Bromley relies on "image pairs" of before and after shots, comparing archived images with more recent photos.

"What we mainly see are rooftops disappearing," said Mr Bromley. "We are right at the edge of what the technology can do."

Archived satellite images are available for purchase. A satellite can also be commissioned to take specific pictures at a specific time.

These commissions can be crucial to capturing proof of village demolitions, particularly in lush regions such as Burma, where plant growth can quickly mask any traces of burned settlements.

Ground reports

Mr Bromley cited his analysis of a village in the disputed Karen state in Burma.

After receiving reports of its destruction from sources inside the country "we immediately scheduled a satellite photo, waited for the clouds to move, and got it".

Thousands of Burma's ethnic Karen have been removed from homes

The images showed clearly the "blackened charred footprints of the homes that used to be there".

By comparing old and new photographs, AAAS can also track patterns of migration among Burma's estimated 500,000 internally displaced people.

This year, Mr Bromley observed the appearance of 31 new settlements around a recently expanded military camp.

After comparing notes with activists on the ground, he concluded this pattern indicated a forced relocation.

But there are limits to satellite imaging. The AAAS relies on first-hand reports compiled by partner organisations on the ground.

Timing is also a challenge. Mr Bromley said: "We are bound by the rules of the technology. Only a small percentage of the Earth can be mapped each day."

Immediate comparisons are difficult, because images of the same co-ordinates are often up to five years apart.

And the accessibility of satellite maps could pose a deeper problem should they fall into the wrong hands.

Palestinian militants and Iraqi insurgents have been caught with printouts from services like Google Earth. But Mr Bromley is not particularly worried.

"This is an issue we grapple with daily... But does it give a tactical advantage you wouldn't be able to get otherwise? No."