Violence in Myanmar that’s pushed nearly 400,000 Muslim refugees into neighbouring Bangladesh is threatening to deepen sectarian tensions across the region.The exodus of Rohingya from Rakhine state has sparked concerns that politicians in countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh and India could seek to capitalise on public anger over the treatment of a group that’s considered stateless in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Wednesday urged Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi to end the violence which has seen nearly 380,000 Rohingya Muslims flee to neighbouring Bangladesh.During a phone call, Trudeau stressed Suu Kyi's role as a "moral and political leader" for the nation, as he voiced his "deep concerns over the situation in Rakhine state for Rohingya Muslims," his office said in a statement.According to human rights organisations, 379,000 Rohin

The UN Security Council on Wednesday broke its weeks-long silence on the crisis in Myanmar and called for an end to the violence as UN chief Antonio Guterres said the military campaign amounted to ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims.Following a closed-door meeting, the 15-member council including China, a supporter of Myanmar's former ruling junta, expressed concern about excessive force during security operations in Rakhine state and called for "immediate steps" to end the vi

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi will not attend the United Nations General Assembly this week, her spokesman said Wednesday, as the Nobel laureate faces a barrage of criticism over her failure to speak up for Rohingya Muslims fleeing Rakhine state in huge numbers.A crackdown by Myanmar's army, launched in response to Rohingya militant attacks on August 25, has sent some 379,000 Rohingya refugees scrambling across the border to Bangladesh in less than three weeks.The violence has incubate

Thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled violence in Myanmar in search of refuge could be forced to make their new homes on a barren Bangladeshi island that floods every year.The Bangladesh government has appealed for international support to move the Rohingya to the island as the impoverished country confronts a growing crisis over where to house an influx that has mounted following a military crackdown in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar's Rakhine state.More than 300,000 Rohingya have

“We were all together but suddenly they started firing. I could not look back, because I thought I would die,” 12-year-old Jamal Hussein recounted to an AFP reporter at a refugee camp in Bahukhali, Bangladesh. He has not seen his parents since his five brothers were gunned down by Myanmar’s army (also known as the Tatmadaw) in a massacre at Aung Sit Pyin located in the northern Rakhine state on the August 25, 2017.

The number of Rohingya who have fled violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state to Bangladesh since August 25 has reached 313,000, a UN spokesman said Monday.The estimate came from Joseph Tripura, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency.The United Nations and the Bangladesh government have said the number arriving has slowed down in recent days although the situation is still volatile.On Sunday the UN said some 294,000 Rohingya had arrived, a jump of only 4,000 from the previous day."Many ne

More than 1,000 people may already have been killed in Myanmar's Rakhine state, mostly members of the Muslim Rohingya minority, a senior UN (United Nations) representative told AFP (Agence France-Presse) on Friday – around twice the government's figure."Perhaps about a thousand or more are already dead," said Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar.

Global humanitarian organisations have appealed to the international community to mount pressure on Myanmar’s government over ongoing violence against the Rohingya, an ethnic minority group in Myanmar. Many international organisations have raised concerns over the matter as the Muslim minority group has been facing discrimination from the government and its military for decades.