UN says 164,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar

The U.N. refugee agency says 164,000 Rohingya have flooded into Bangladesh since violence erupted in Myanmar on Aug. 25.

The revised refugee number confirmed Thursday by UNHCR spokeswoman Vivian Tan was likely to go up further, with thousands still crossing the border every day.

The influx has pushed refugee camps to the brink in Bangladesh, leaving tens of thousands to squat in open fields or to occupy muddy patches between the two countries’ borders.

Turkey’s first lady and foreign minister are visiting Bangladesh to learn why the Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar in the past two weeks.

First lady Emine Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu visited a refugee camp housing more than 50,000 people and talked with residents, including a young person with a bullet injury, about ongoing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

Bangladesh officials also briefed them on how they are attempting to provide shelter, food and health care to the huge numbers of refugees.

The first lady told reporters that Turkey will do everything possible to help the Rohingya, and that her husband, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, would take up the issue at this month’s U.N. General Assembly meeting.

The violence began with attacks by Rohingya insurgents on police on Aug. 25. Government forces retaliated with what they called “clearance operations.”

Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi told reporters her government was working to improve life for Rohingya Muslims, but that “it’s a little unreasonable to expect us to resolve everything in 18 months” since her administration took office.”