More than 22,000 people from mainly Muslim communities have been forced to flee their homes in western Myanmar, the UN said on Sunday, after a fresh wave of violence and arson that left dozens dead.
Whole neighbourhoods were razed in last week’s clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine state, which has cast a shadow over the country’s reforms and put further strain on relief efforts in the region.
Some 75,000 people are already crammed into overcrowded camps following clashes in June.
The United Nations chief in Yangon, Ashok Nigam, said government estimates provided early on Sunday were that 22,587 people had been displaced and 4,665 houses set ablaze in the latest bloodshed.
“These are people whose houses have been burnt, they are still in the same locality,” he said, indicating that thousands more who had fled in boats towards the state capital Sittwe may not be included in that estimate.
“It is mainly the Muslims who have been displaced,” he said, adding that 21,700 of those made homeless were Muslims.
