Rebels declare truce as thousands of Muslims flee Myanmar

ROHINGYA REBELS, whose attack on Myanmar security forces last month triggered savage military reprisals, have declared a month-long truce as refugees continue to flood across the border into Bangladesh – and scant basic resources, hunger and illness.

The ragtag band of Muslim insurgents calling itself the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army issued the truce statement on its Twitter account and urged Myanmar’s government to reciprocate in order to assist all victims regardless of their background.

The rebels, who say they are fighting to protect their minority members against governmentsponsored persecution, launched their first known attacks last October and again on August 25. According to Rohingya refugees, the military responded with indiscriminate killings, burning entire villages and forcing tens of thousands to flee.

The government said most of the 400 dead were “terrorists”.

The United Nations said on Saturday that an estimated 290,000 Rohingya Muslims had arrived in the border district of Cox’s Bazar in just the last two weeks, joining at least 100,000 who were already there after fleeing earlier riots and persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

The number was expected to swell further, with thousands crossing the border each day.

Fights were erupting over food and water.

Women and children were tapping on car windows or tugging at the clothes of passing reporters while rubbing their bellies and begging for food. Health experts warned of the potential for outbreaks of disease.

“More and more people are coming,” said UNHCR spokeswoman Vivian Tan.

With camps already “more than full”, the new arrivals were setting up spontaneous settlements on roadsides or any available patches of land.

Within the camps “we are trying our best, but it is very difficult because every day we are seeing new arrivals” with nowhere to go, Ms Tan said. Many of the newly arrived were initially stunned and traumatised.