September 14, 2017 8:45 PM

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Figures of Rohinya refugees flown to Bangladesh indicating crisis remains acute: UN Chief

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres says that the number of Muslim Rohingya who have crossed into Bangladesh to escape ethnic unrest in Myanmar since August 25 hit 389,000 today. The figure rose 10,000 in 24 hours, indicating the Rohingya crisis remains acute.<br/><br/>UN refugee agency spokesman Joseph Tripura gave the latest number. Other UN agencies have sounded the alarm over conditions for the Rohingya who have fled a military crackdown in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar's Rakhine state.<br/><br/>Most of the influx is concentrated around the Bangladesh border town of Cox's Bazar where more than 300,000 Rohingya refugees were packed into ill-equipped camps before the violence erupted last month in Rakhine.<br/><br/>The UN children's agency, UNICEF, said that 60 per cent of the new arrivals are children. There are acute shortages of everything, most critically shelter, food and clean water. Edouard Beigbeder,UNICEF's representative in Bangladesh said in a statement, conditions on the ground place children at risk of high risk of water-borne disease.<br/><br/>The UN refugee agency says not enough aid is getting through to the Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh. Mr Guterres called on the international community to provide whatever assistance they could.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, the European Parliament today demanded the Myanmar military immediately end violence against Rohingya Muslims, adding to international pressure over the crisis.<br/><br/>MEPs urged Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been pilloried by rights groups for failing to speak up for the Rohingya, to condemn unequivocally all incitement to racial and religious hatred.

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