Trapped on beaches or hiding in the jungle: though numbers are falling, latest Rohingya refugees say thousands are still stranded
UN says the number of people fleeing Myanmar for Bangladesh has appeared to have dipped
The massive exodus of Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar to escape persecution appears to have slowed, but a number of recent refugees to Bangladesh say there are still tens of thousands huddled near beaches or in forests waiting to escape.
Some Rohingya who have fled over the past week said Myanmar army soldiers were shooting at those trying to flee to Bangladesh. Others said thousands were stuck in Myanmar because most boatmen had already crossed to safety while soldiers burned the remaining boats.
In the first three weeks of the latest spate of violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, tens of thousands of Rohingya poured into Bangladesh each day, walking for days through forests or taking rickety wooden boats on the rain-swollen Naf River. Many crossed into the country via the thin sliver of the Bay of Bengal that separates Myanmar from Bangladesh.