Violence has displaced 30k in Myanmar's Rakhine: UN

Rasa - The United Nations says violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state has left up to 30,000 people displaced since October.

News ID: 425158

Date: 18 November 2016 - 23:57

RNA - "Up to 30,000 people are now estimated to be displaced and thousands more affected by the 9 October armed attacks and subsequent security operations across the north of Rakhine state," a spokesman for the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday.

Rakhine has been under a military lockdown since last month, when an alleged attack on Myanmar's border guards left nine officers dead. The government accused Rohingya Muslims of being behind the assault.

Since then, government forces have left dozens of the Rohingya dead during what they call search operations for the alleged attackers.

According to the UN, the Rohingya are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.

The OCHA said that of the 30,000 figure, 15,000 were people who were believed to have fled their homes after the eruption of a new wave of government crackdown in the troubled region on November 12.

"This includes as many as 15,000 people who, according to unverified information, may have been displaced after clashes between armed actors and the military on 12-13 November."

On November 16, the London-based Arakan Rohingya National Organization said at least 150 Muslims had been killed since November 12.

Rakhine has been the scene of communal violence at the hands of Buddhist extremists since 2012. Hundreds of people have been killed and tens of thousands have been forced from homes and live in squalid camps in dire conditions in Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

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