At least 10,000 Rohingyas have fled to B’desh: UN

At least 10,000 Rohingya Muslims have arrived in Bangladesh in recent weeks, after fleeing violence in neighbouring Myanmar, the United Nations (UN) said on Wednesday.

An estimated 30,000 Rohingyas, a Muslim minority living mostly in Myanmar, have been forced to leave their homes ever since a bloody crackdown by the army in the state of Rakhine.

Bangladesh has stepped up patrols along the border to try to stop them from entering. Last week, it said thousands had flooded into the country, many with nothing but the clothes that they were wearing. “Based on reports by humanitarian agencies, we estimate that there could be 10,000 new arrivals in recent weeks,” said Vivian Tan, a spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency in Bangkok. 

“The situation is fast changing and the actual number could be much higher,” he added.

Those who have arrived in Bangladesh narrated horrifying stories of gangrape, torture and murder at the hands of Myanmar’s security forces. Analysis of satellite images by Human Rights Watch found hundreds of buildings in Rohingya villages razed.