Thousands of Rohingya flee from violence and hunger in Myanmar to Bangladesh

Thousands of Rohingyas, starved by hunger, destitution and fear, crossed the border early Monday from Myanmar to Bangladesh to escape food shortages and Buddhist attacks described by the United Nations as ethnic cleansing, witnesses said.Refugees fought through deep forests with their children and told Reuters they had walked through waterways that rose from monsoon rains.

“We could not leave the house last month because the army was looting people,” said Mohammed Shuaib, 29. They started shooting at the village and so we fled to another … and day by day things began to deteriorate. “We started moving towards Bangladesh and before we left I went back to my village to see my house and the whole village was burning.”The new refugees have joined some 536,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled Myanmar since August 25 when coordinated attacks by Rohingya gunmen have provoked a violent backlash from the army. Activists accused the security forces of burning, killing and rape.

Myanmar rejects ethnic cleansing charges and describes militants from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army in Arakan as terrorists who killed civilians and burned villages.