Number of Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar tops 100,000
Activist says number fleeing desperation in Myanmar has surged in recent weeks
A growing sense of desperation is fuelling a mass exodus of Rohingya Muslims from western Myanmar, with the number fleeing by boat since communal violence broke out two years ago now topping 100,000, a leading expert said yesterday.
Chris Lewa, director of the non-profit advocacy group Arakan Project, said there had been a huge surge since October 15, with an average of 900 people per day piling into cargo ships parked off Rakhine state.
That is nearly 10,000 in less than two weeks, one of the biggest upticks yet.
Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation of 50 million, has an estimated 1.3 million Rohingya. Though many of their families arrived from neighbouring Bangladesh generations ago, almost all have been denied citizenship. In the past two years, attacks by Buddhist mobs have left hundreds dead and 140,000 trapped in camps, where they live without access to adequate health care, education or jobs.
Lewa said some Rohingya families had been told new ships had started arriving in neighbouring Thailand, where passengers often are brought to jungle camps, facing extortion and beatings until relatives come up with enough money to win their release.
From there they usually travel to Malaysia or other countries, but, still stateless, their futures remain bleak.