Rakhine: Myanmar and Forces

rakhine: The UN has denounced the Myanmar military offensive as ethnic cleansing, but Myanmar insists its forces are fighting terrorists who have killed civilians and burned villages, according to CBC. Rights groups say more than 200 Rohingya villages in the north of Rakhine state have been torched in a campaign by the security forces and Buddhist vigilantes to drive out Muslims. Around 515,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine in an unrelenting movement of people that began after Myanmar security forces responded to Rohingya militant attacks with a brutal crackdown. UN humanitarian relief chief Mark Lowcock reiterated an appeal for access to the population in northern Rakhine, saying the situation was unacceptable. Rohingya refugees arrive for a Friday prayer at a mosque in a camp in Bangladesh for those who recently fled from Myanmar. Buddhist-majority Myanmar has blocked most access to the area, although some agencies have offices open in towns there and the International Committee of the Red Cross is helping the Myanmar Red Cross to deliver aid. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.