Rohingya refugees walk across paddy fields at dusk after crossing the border from Myanmar to Bangladesh. More than 300,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled violence in Burma over the past 10 days, carrying with them whatever they can on the perilous journey to Bangladesh and arriving hungry, injured and afraid, if they arrive at all. The mass exodus of Rohingya began on Aug. 25, when members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a militant group, attacked dozens of police posts. The number of displaced is expected to rise, and possibly double, in the coming days.
More than 400 people have been killed in the clashes, some of the worst fighting in decades in a state prone to religious and ethnic conflict. Burma’s government says 371 of the dead are Rohingya fighters, 15 are from the security forces and civil service, and 22 are civilians. Much is in dispute in Rakhine state, where an estimated 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims live in uneasy relations with their Buddhist neighbors. Rohingya activists and monitors say many of the dead are noncombatants and that massacres — including decapitations — have taken place. They also argue the death toll is much higher.
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