Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Refugees crowding Bangladeshi camps
Rohingya still pouring in from Burma
SHAH PORIR DWIP, Bangladesh — Aid officials said relief camps were reaching full capacity as thousands of Rohingya refugees continued to pour into Bangladesh on Sunday, fleeing violence in western Burma.
About 73,000 people have crossed the border since violence broke out Aug. 25 in Burma’s Rakhine state, said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Vivian Tan.
The violence began when Rohingya insurgents attacked Burmese police and paramilitary posts in what they said was an effort to protect their ethnic minority from persecution by security forces in the majority Buddhist country. In response, the military unleashed what it called “clearance operations” to root out the insurgents.
An aid official said Saturday that more than 50 refugees had arrived with bullet wounds and were moved to hospitals in Cox’s Bazar, on the border with Burma. Refugees reaching the Bangladeshi fishing village of Shah Porir Dwip described bombs exploding near their homes and Rohingya being burned alive.
From an area close to the Bangladeshi border town of Teknaf, soaring flames and smoke could be seen rising from Burma on Sunday.
Aid workers said large numbers of refugees required immediate medical attention as they were suffering from respiratory diseases, infection and malnutrition. The existing medical facilities in the border area were insufficient to cope up with the influx, and more aid and paramedics were needed, aid workers said.
The Burmese military has said nearly 400 people, most of them insurgents, have died in clashes. Bangladeshi police, meanwhile, say dozens of Rohingya have died attempting to cross the river separating the country from Burma.
Burma’s government blames the insurgents for burning their own homes and killing Buddhists in Rakhine state. Long-standing tensions between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists previously broke into bloody rioting in 2012, forcing more than 100,000 Rohingya into displacement camps, where many still live.
Burma is often called Myanmar, a name that military authorities adopted in 1989. Some nations, such as the United States and Britain, have refused to adopt the name change.
Elsewhere, Indonesia’s president called for an end to the violence in Rakhine state and sent his foreign minister to discuss the plight of Rohingya Muslims with the Burma’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
At a news conference, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said he deplores the violence in Rakhine and promised humanitarian assistance.
“Real action is needed, not just statements and condemnations,” he said. “This violence and humanitarian crisis must end.”
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi flew to Burma on Sunday afternoon and planned to meet with several government figures, including Suu Kyi.
The Indonesian Foreign Ministry said Marsudi held talks Saturday with her country’s major Muslim organizations, which called on Burma’s government to immediately restore security in Rakhine.
Separately, dozens of police officers were guarding the Burmese Embassy in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the mission early Sunday morning. No one was hurt.
Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono said the attack started a fire in the back of the embassy on the second floor.