More than half a million Rohingya refugees have flooded into Bangladesh to flee an offensive by Myanmar’s military that the United Nations has called ‘a textbook example of ethnic cleansing’.
The refugee population is expected to swell further, with thousands more Rohingya Muslims said to be making the perilous journey on foot toward the border, or paying smugglers to take them across by water in wooden boats.
Hundreds are known to have died trying to escape, and survivors arrive with horrifying accounts of villages burned, women raped, and scores killed in the ‘clearance operations’ by Myanmar’s army and Buddhist mobs that were sparked by militant attacks on security posts in Rakhine state on August 25, 2017.
More than half a million Rohingya refugees have flooded into Bangladesh to flee an offensive by Myanmar’s military. Pictured above, a Rohingya refugee boy desperate for aid cries as he climbs on a truck distributing aid for a local NGO near the Balukali refugee camp on September 20
The refugee population is expected to swell further, with thousands more Rohingya Muslims said to be making the perilous journey on foot toward the border, or paying smugglers to take them across by water in wooden boats. Pictured above, Rohingya refugees desperate for aid crowd as food is distributed by a local NGO near the Balukali refugee camp
A cleric touches the head of a Rohingya refugee woman as she asks for food as they rest in an Islamic school or madrassa after arriving by boat on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River at Shah Porir Dwip after fleeing their villages in Myanmar
Hundreds are known to have died trying to escape, and survivors arrive with horrifying accounts of villages burned, women raped, and scores killed in the ‘clearance operations’ by Myanmar’s army and Buddhist mobs that were sparked by militant attacks on security posts in Rakhine state on August 25
Rohingya refugees line up to get food aid from a local NGO after arriving from Myanmar at the Balukali refugee camp on September 18
Aid agencies now estimate that 536,000 people have now arrived in Cox’s Bazar district, straining scarce resources of aid groups and local communities
What the Rohingya refugees flee to is a different kind of suffering in sprawling makeshift camps rife with fears of malnutrition, cholera, and other diseases. Pictured above, makeshift shelters at the sprawling Balukali Rohingya refuge camp on October 3, in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi is ‘appalled’ at the Rohingya refugee crisis in her country and is determined to fix it, but needs to be careful not to inflame the situation further, an adviser to Suu Kyi told reporters on Friday.
‘She is appalled by what she has seen. She does care deeply about this. I know that does not always come across. But she really does,’ said the adviser, who asked not to be quoted by name.
Aid agencies now estimate that 536,000 people have now arrived in Cox’s Bazar district, straining scarce resources of aid groups and local communities.
What the Rohingya refugees flee to is a different kind of suffering in sprawling makeshift camps rife with fears of malnutrition, cholera, and other diseases.
Aid organizations are struggling to keep pace with the scale of need and the staggering number of them – an estimated 60 per cent – who are children arriving alone
Rohingya refugees carry their belongings on a road as they arrive after fleeing Myanmar to the Palongkali refugee camp on October 2
A Rohingya refugee woman sits exhausted after collapsing on a beach on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River at Shah Porir Dwip after fleeing her village in Myanmar, on October 1
A Rohingya refugee boy is carried from a boat as he arriver with his family after crossing the Naf River at Shah Porir Dwip on September 21
Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi is ‘appalled’ at the Rohingya refugee crisis in her country and is determined to fix it
A Rohingya refugee woman holds her child as she stands outside her shelter at the sprawling Balukali refugee camp on September 27 in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
A Rohingya refugee family rest as they sit on the ground on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River after fleeing Myanmar, on October 2
About 200,000 Rohingya were already in Bangladesh after fleeing persecution in Myanmar, where they have long been denied citizenship and faced restrictions on their movements and access to basic services.
Aid organizations are struggling to keep pace with the scale of need and the staggering number of them – an estimated 60 per cent – who are children arriving alone.
Bangladesh, whose acceptance of the refugees has been praised by humanitarian officials for saving lives, has urged the creation of an internationally-recognized ‘safe zone’ where refugees can return, though Rohingya Muslims have long been persecuted in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar.
World leaders are still debating how to confront the country and its de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who championed democracy, but now appears unable or unwilling to stop the army’s brutal crackdown.
Bangladesh, whose acceptance of the refugees has been praised by humanitarian officials for saving lives, has urged the creation of an internationally-recognized ‘safe zone’ where refugees can return, though Rohingya Muslims have long been persecuted in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar
World leaders are still debating how to confront the country and its de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who championed democracy, but now appears unable or unwilling to stop the army’s brutal crackdown
Coordinated Rohingya insurgent attacks on 30 security posts on August 25 sparked a ferocious military response in the Muslim-majority northern part of Rakhine state that the United Nations has said was ethnic cleansing
A Rohingya refugee man who was shot in the back by the Myanmar army is helped by a relative after crossing the border to the Bangladesh side of the Naf River while fleeing Myanmar, on September 24
A Rohingya refugee girl wears a plastic bag as she walks in the monsoon rains at the Palongkali refugee camp on September 19
Malnourished and suffering from diarrhea, two Rohingya refugee children cry on the floor of a makeshift shelter at the Balukali refugee camp on September 27
Two Rohingya refugee boys who had their legs broken by the Myanmar army share a bed in the “Rohingya Ward” at Sader Hospital on October 2
A Rohingya refugee washes at a well at the Palongkali refugee camp on September 26. Myanmar’s military has launched an internal probe into the conduct of soldiers during the counteroffensive. The country has insisted that military options ceased on September 5
A Rohingya refugee woman is carried by relatives near the border on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River after fleeing Myanmar, on October 2. A committee led by military Lieutenant-General Aye Win has begun an investigation into the behaviour of military personnel during the offensive
Coordinated Rohingya insurgent attacks on 30 security posts on August 25 sparked a ferocious military response in the Muslim-majority northern part of Rakhine state that the United Nations has said was ethnic cleansing.
Myanmar’s military has launched an internal probe into the conduct of soldiers during the counteroffensive. The country has insisted that military options ceased on September 5.
A committee led by military Lieutenant-General Aye Win has begun an investigation into the behaviour of military personnel, the office of the commander in chief said on Friday, insisting the operation was justified under Buddhist-majority Myanmar’s constitution.
According to a statement posted on Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s Facebook page, the panel will ask, ‘Did they follow the military code of conduct? Did they exactly follow the command during the operation? After that (the committee) will release full information.’
A Rohingya refugee woman is helped from a boat as she arrives exhausted on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River at Shah Porir Dwip after fleeing her village in Myanmar on October 1
Rohingya refugees rest in an Islamic school or madrassa after arriving by boat on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River at Shah Porir Dwip after fleeing their villages in Myanmar, on September 22
Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has pledged accountability for human rights abuses and says Myanmar will accept back refugees who can prove they were residents of Myanmar
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing told the US ambassador in Myanmar earlier this week that the exodus of Rohingya – who he said were non-native ‘Bengalis’ – was exaggerated. Pictured above, refugees are seen outside makeshift shelters at the Balukali Refugee Camp on September 25
A Rohingya refugee family reacts as they disembark from a boat after arriving on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River at night from Myanmar on September 26
A Rohingya refugee boy is carried in a basket by a relative after crossing the border on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River while fleeing Myanmar, on September 24
In comments to Japan’s ambassador carried in state media on Friday, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing denied ethnic cleansing was taking place on the grounds that photos showed Muslims ‘departing calmly rather than fleeing in terror’
Myanmar is refusing entry to a UN panel that was tasked with investigating allegations of abuses after a smaller military counteroffensive launched in October 2016.
But domestic investigations – including a previous internal military probe – have largely dismissed refugees’ claims of abuses committed during security forces’ so-called ‘clearance operations’.
Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has pledged accountability for human rights abuses and says Myanmar will accept back refugees who can prove they were residents of Myanmar.
The powerful army chief has taken a harder stance, however, telling the US ambassador in Myanmar earlier this week that the exodus of Rohingya – who he said were non-native ‘Bengalis’ – was exaggerated.
In comments to Japan’s ambassador carried in state media on Friday, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing denied ethnic cleansing was taking place on the grounds that photos showed Muslims ‘departing calmly rather than fleeing in terror’.
A Rohingya refugee woman is helped from a boat after arriving on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River at night from Myanmar on September 27
Rohingya refugees desperate for aid crowd as food is distributed by a local NGO near the Balukali refugee camp on September 20 in Cox’s Bazar
Rohingya refugees carry their belongings as they walk after crossing the border on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River while fleeing Myanmar, on September 24
Rohingya refugees rest in an Islamic school or madrassa after arriving by boat on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River at Shah Porir Dwip after fleeing their villages in Myanmar, on September 22
An Islamic cleric leads prayers for 16 Rohingya refugees who dies when their boat capsized while fleeing Myanmar during their funeral on September 29, in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
Rohingya refugees pray at the site where they are building a new mosque at the sprawling Balukali refugee camp on September 25
An elderly Rohingya refugees woman sits outside her shelter in the sprawling Balukali refugee camp on September 22 in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh