UN: 11,432 Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar in 2018

At least 11,432 Rohingya Muslims have fled violence and persecution in Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh so far in 2018, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein says.

According to Press TV, Zeid said in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday that Rohingya Muslims continue to flee Myanmar's Rakhine state with many testifying about violence, persecution, killings and burning of their homes.

The UN human rights chief said that many Rohingya refugees also reported being pressured by Myanmar authorities to accept a national verification card that says they "need to apply for citizenship".

"No amount of rhetoric can whitewash these facts. People are still fleeing persecution in Rakhine, and are even willing to risk dying at sea to escape," Zeid added.

Rohingya Muslims based in Rakhine have been subjected to a campaign of killings, rape and arson attacks by the military backed by the country’s majority Buddhist extremists in what the UN has described as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”

The brutal campaign has forced some 700,000 Rohingya to flee their homeland since August 2017 and seek refuge in Bangladesh.

Many of the displaced Rohingya are either living in squalid camps or just across the border in a plot of land known as "no man’s land."

SS