This article is from the source 'independent' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/rohingya-crisis-latest-news-un-burma-ethnic-cleansing-military-muslim-minority-villages-bangladesh-a7954626.html
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Rohingya crisis: UN to investigate reports of ethnic cleansing by Burmese military of the Muslim minority group | Rohingya crisis: UN to investigate reports of ethnic cleansing by Burmese military of the Muslim minority group |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The UN has announced it will investigate reports of mass killings, torture, sexual violence, and the burning of Rohingya villages in Burma. | The UN has announced it will investigate reports of mass killings, torture, sexual violence, and the burning of Rohingya villages in Burma. |
| At least 400,000 people are believed to have fled over the border into Bangladesh to escape widespread rape, murder and the destruction of whole villages in the western state of Rakhine by the Burmese military and mobs from the country's Buddhist-majority population. | |
| Desperate refugees have reportedly been seen climbing over wire border fences in an attempt to escape and the Burmese military are reportedly laying land mines to ensure they do not return. | |
| The Rohingya, who are predominately Muslim, have faced persecution in Burma for decades but there has been a fresh upsurge in violence against them since 25 August after a small group of Islamist militants attacked 30 police stations and a military base. | |
| The UN has previously said the violence was a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing" and urged the Burmese military to end operations in the region, grant access to humanitarian groups and commit to aiding the safe return of civilians to their homes. | |
| The chairman of the fact-finding mission, Marzuki Darusman asked the Human Rights Council for a further six months to investigate the violence – taking it up to September 2018 – saying the team "will go where the evidence leads us". | |
| He also called for the Burmese government to release its own investigation in the violence in Rakhine state which was completed in August. | |
| But the Burmese ambassador to the UN, Htin Lynn, said the investigation was "not a helpful course of action" and said Burma was taking proportionate security measures against terrorists to restore peace. | |
| More follows… | More follows… |