Rohingya exodus to Bangladesh nears 3,00000

The villagers were now hiding in the forest or attempting a perilous, days-long journey by foot in the monsoon rain toward the Maungdaw region and further west to the River Naf separating Myanmar and Bangladesh. It was agreed that India will provide assistance under the Rakhine state development programme in conjunction with the government of Myanmar.

The call came days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a state visit to the Buddhist-majority country amid spiralling violence in Rakhine that has forced almost 300,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee.

The United Nations said yesterday that about 164,000 mostly Rohingya refugees had escaped to Bangladesh in the past two weeks, meaning more than a 250,000 have fled since fighting broke out in October.

Who are the Rohingya and why are so many fleeing Myanmar?

The humanitarian crisis next door has left Bangladesh scrambling to deal with people that it does not welcome either.

According to the International Organization for Migration, before August 25, IOM Bangladesh was coordinating humanitarian assistance to some 200,000 undocumented Myanmar nationals living in makeshift settlements in Cox’s Bazar.

A Myanmar military source said no landmines had been planted recently, while a government spokesman told Reuters more information was needed. Analysts said AH Mahmood Ali’s language was the strongest yet from Myanmar’s neighbour, and reflected intense frustration in Dhaka at the continuing influx of desperate Rohingya refugees.

At Aung San Suu Kyi’s alma mater, the Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) in Delhi, one political science student Riya Agarwal told News18 she expects the de facto leader of Myanmar to handle the crisis with more compassion.

Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, receiving the award for “her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights” while standing up against military rulers.

“The solution lies in Myanmar”.

Bangladesh officials are turning to the global community for help, claiming support from countries such as Turkey, which has promised aid.

“It is incongruous for a symbol of righteousness to lead such a country; it is adding to our pain”, he said, noting that “the images we are seeing of the suffering of the Rohingya fill us with pain and dread”. But any such voyage would be hazardous for the next few months, because of the annual monsoon.

Rights groups briefed U.N. Security Council diplomats on the Myanmar violence on Friday.

The recent clashes in Myanmar have sparked worldwide concern. “We are afraid that this persecution of minorities will lead to further alienation and isolation, which is ideal breeding ground for terrorism”, he said.

Mr Ali said about 10,000 homes had been burned in Rakhine state, a figure that can not be verified as Myanmar has restricted independent access to the state. But we are not interested to give them shelter here.

Cradling her naked screaming infant, Rohingya refugee Zohra Begum was close to tears as several hundred people were ordered to leave a strip of forest alongside the beach near Shamlapur, where families were clearing land with hoes to build shelters.