Escalating tensions between Myanmar’s Rakhine Buddhists and the Muslim Rohingyase resulted in riots that lead President Thein Stein to declare the former Burma in a state of emergency. Houses were burned and many people where wounded and killed.
The conflict has displaced tens of thousands of Rohingya who are now fleeing Myanmar into neighboring countries such as Bangladesh. Bangladeshi border authorities are turning refugees away. Around 30,000 Rohingya are already in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh. Of the refugees being turned away, many were wounded and in need of assistance.
The Rohingya women and children above were photographed hiding in a house at Shah Pari’s Island in Teknaf, Bangladesh, June 15, 2012. This group of 10 Rohingya Muslims fled mass burning of houses and violence in Myanmar, setting out in a wooden boat for neighboring Bangladesh. The refugees were pushed back three times by border guards, but managed to cross on their fourth attempt and are now hiding with local villagers to avoid being arrested.
Photo Credit: Reuters/Andrew Biraj
Safeguarding the River
Members of Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) guard a boat by the river Naf, as Rohingyas from Myanmar try to enter the Teknaf district of Bangladesh. The European Union said it was satisfied with Myanmar’s “measured” handling of the Muslim-Buddhist violence that engulfed one of its biggest towns, while the United States urged all ethnic groups to work at reconciliation.
Photo Credit: Reuters/Andrew Biraj
Waiting in the Water
Rohingya refugees from Myanmar sit on a boat as they try to enter Bangladesh. Members of the Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) have blockaded the refugees from docking in the Teknaf district. The number of refugees that have been turned away from Bangladesh is unknown.
Photo Credit: Reuters/Andrew Biraj
Keep Borders the Open
A member of the Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) stands guard at a site where Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are attempting to enter the Teknaf district of Bangladesh by boat. U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters that the U.N. Refugee Office (UNHCR) has called on Bangladesh to keep its borders open given the rapid escalation of violence in the northern Rakhine State of Myanmar.
Photo Credit: Reuters/Andrew Biraj
Much Needed Assistance
Local people carry food and water to aid Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, who are trying to reach safety in Bangladesh by boat. As the displaced Rohingya have reached land, some residents have met the refugees with offers of food, water and shelter.
Photo: Andrew Biraj/Reuters
No Way Gack Home
Rohingya cattle traders from Myanmar, who came to Bangladesh for business and are unable to return, sit on their boat by the river Naf, in Teknaf. U.N. officials estimated that around 30,000 people have been displaced.
Myanmar recently held its first democratic elections in decades. Was ethnic violence better contained under military rule? Leave your thoughts in COMMENTS.
