Thousands of Rohingya flee to Bangladesh from violence in Myanmar, official says

Around 8,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh in recent months, escaping escalating violence in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, according to Bangladeshi officials.

The violence has intensified as fighting between Myanmar’s ruling junta and the Arakan Army, a powerful ethnic militia drawn from the Buddhist majority, continues to worsen.
“We have information that around 8,000 Rohingya crossed into Bangladesh recently, mostly over the last two months,” said Mohammad Shamsud Douza, a senior official in charge of refugees for the Bangladeshi government.

“Bangladesh is already over-burdened and unable to accommodate any more Rohingya,” he told Reuters on Wednesday.

The Bangladesh government has not previously provided any estimate of how many Rohingya have crossed over in the last few months.

Read more: Reuters