These are the faces of the desperate Rohingya refugees arriving in Bangladesh after fleeing from what UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called ethnic cleansing in Myanmar.
Elderly women and young children were among those clambering for aid packages in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh after fleeing violence in nearby Rakhine State.
The secretary-general said there were 125,000 refugees in Bangladesh last week as he called on Myannmar’s authorities to grant the Rohingya Muslims nationality or legal status so they could work, and get an education and health care. But he stressed that the number has since tripled ‘to nearly 380,000’.
The 1.1-million strong Rohingya have suffered years of discrimination in Myanmar, where they are denied citizenship even though many have longstanding roots in the country.
The UN chief told reporters today that Myanmar’s government must also uphold the rule of law.
The international body said the army’s violent crackdown was a ‘textbook example of ethnic cleansing’, and called for ‘immediate steps’ to end the violence.
Nobel laureate and Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has cancelled a trip to the United Nations General Assembly to tackle the crisis unfurling at home.
A desperate old woman reaches out her hand to receive aid after fleeing from Myanmar to Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. Britain and Sweden are among the naitons urging the UN Security Council to call for an end to violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state that has driven at least 380,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. The secretary-general of the UN called on Myannmar’s authorities to grant the Rohingyas nationality or legal status so they could work, and get an education and health care
Rohingya refugees carry an old man towards the shore of Naf river as people arrive by boats in Teknaf, Bangladesh. The UN said the Myanmar army’s violent crackdown was a ‘textbook example of ethnic cleansing’, and called for ‘immediate steps’ to end the violence. Nobel laureate and Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has cancelled a trip to the United Nations General Assembly to tackle the crisis unfurling at home
A group of refugees – including young girls – wait in a crowd for aid to be distributed in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The 1.1-million strong Rohingya have suffered years of discrimination in Myanmar, where they are denied citizenship even though many have longstanding roots in the country
Refugees stretch out their hands in desperation as aid is handed out in Bangladesh. The influx of people has overwhelmed pre-existing refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar district, and many new arrivals have been left squatting in makeshift shelters alongside roads or in fields
A young girl screams as crowds of refugees await the distribution of aid in Bangladesh. Myanmar’s government regards Rohingya as illegal migrants from Bangladesh, even though many have lived in the country for generations
A woman carries a baby at the Cox’s Bazar refugee camp in Bangladesh as hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims flee neighbouring Myanmar amid violence
Smoke billows into the air above Northpara village in Myanmar as seen from Bangladesh. Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been widely condemned for a lack of moral leadership and compassion in the face of the crisis, denting the Nobel peace laureate’s reputation. However Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s first civilian leader in decades, has no control over the powerful military, which ran the country for 50 years before elections in 2015
Recent Rohingya arrivals are registered by the government in the Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh. The exodus began after a series of Rohingya militant attacks sparked a sweeping military response in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which the UN rights agency said was a ‘textbook example of ethnic cleansing’
A crowd of refugees can be seen waiting for the dispensation of aid in Bangladesh. Myanmar authorities have denied that the security forces, or Buddhist civilians, have been starting the fires, instead blaming the insurgents
Reports from refugees and rights groups paint a picture of widespread attacks on Rohingya villages in the north of Rakhine state by the security forces and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, who have torched numerous Muslim villages
Five women who won the Nobel peace prize have told Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi she has a personal and moral responsibility to defend the Rohingya people
Rain falls over a Tumbru refugee camp in Bangladesh