Rohingyas are not natives: Myanmar Army Chief

Yangon, Oct. 12: Rohingya Muslims are not native to Myanmar, the Army Chief told the US ambassador in a meeting in which he apparently did not address accusations of abuses by his men and said that media was complicit in exaggerating the number of refugees fleeing.

The UN human rights office said on Wednesday Myanmar forces had brutally driven out half a million Rohingya from northern Rakhine state to Bangladesh in recent weeks, torching homes, crops and villages to prevent them from returning.

Thousands of Rohingya were leaving the state on Thursday, aiming to reach Bangladesh by boat, citing a shortage of food and fear of repression, residents said. A Myanmar official