The United Nations Refugee Agency now reports that more than 420,000 people have fled Burma (also known as Myanmar) since August 24. The refugees, mostly Rohingya Muslims, crossed into Bangladesh to escape the violence in Burma's western Rakhine state—a situation the U.N. now describes as ethnic cleansing. Bangladeshi authorities are being overwhelmed by the new arrivals, and those crammed into the rain-soaked official and makeshift refugee camps are becoming desperate for food, water, and other basic needs. The refugees fled their homes in Burma after a series of Rohingya insurgent attacks on Burmese police last month were met with a strong government response and the burning of thousands of Rohingya homes. The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority living in parts of a hostile and overwhelmingly Buddhist Burma.
Southeast Asia's Rohingya Refugee Crisis Reaches a Terrible Peak
-
![]()
Read moreRohingya refugees wait to receive aid in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on September 21, 2017. More than 420,000 people have fled the violence in Burma since August 24, according to the United Nations. #
Cathal McNaughton / Reuters -
-
![]()
Read moreSmoke is seen on Burma's side of border as an exhausted Rohingya refugee woman is carried to the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Burma border by boat through the Bay of Bengal in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh, on September 11, 2017. #
Danish Siddiqui / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreYoung Rohingya Muslims stand on a slope and stretch their arms out to receive food being distributed near Balukhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on September 20, 2017. #
Bernat Armangue / AP -
![]()
Read moreA muddy Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on September 19, 2017. #
Cathal McNaughton / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreA Bangladeshi boy walks towards a moored boat as smoke rises from across the border in Burma at Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh, on September 14, 2017. #
Dar Yasin / AP -
![]()
Read moreRohingya Muslims, who crossed over from Burma into Bangladesh, wait during distribution of food items near the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh on September 19, 2017. #
Dar Yasin / AP -
-
![]()
Read moreRohingya refugees sit in an informal refugee camp on September 16, 2017, in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. #
Allison Joyce / Getty -
![]()
Read moreSmoke and fire in Burma is seen from across the border in Bangladesh on September 14, 2017, in Shah Porir Dip. #
Allison Joyce / Getty -
![]()
Read moreA Rohingya refugee who claims he was shot, stabbed, and left for dead, by Burmese military, poses for a picture in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on September 21, 2017. #
Cathal McNaughton / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreRohingya Muslims, who crossed over recently from Burma into Bangladesh, stand in a line to receive food being distributed near the Balukhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on September 19, 2017. #
Bernat Armangue / AP -
![]()
Read moreA Rohingya refugee girl looks at clothes donated by local organizations at the Thaingkhali makeshift refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on September 14, 2017. #
Danish Siddiqui / Reuters -
-
![]()
Read moreA Rohingya Muslim man, Mohammad Zakaria, who sustained bullet injuries to his left leg when Burmese monks and soldiers attacked his village, waits for food aid outside the Balukhali refugee camp in Bangladesh on September 17, 2017. #
Dar Yasin / AP -
![]()
Read moreRohingya refugees cross the border from Burma on the Naf River in Teknaf, Bangladesh, on September 7, 2017. #
Mohammad Ponir Hossain / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreA man struggles to carry supplies across a stream as the monsoon rains continue to make life miserable for the displaced Rohingya on September 17, 2017, in Kutupalong, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. #
Paula Bronstein / Getty -
![]()
Read moreRohingya refugees walk across paddy fields at dusk after crossing the border from Burma on September 9, 2017, in Gundum, Bangladesh. #
Dan Kitwood / Getty -
![]()
Read moreA Rohingya refugee child poses for a photo in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on September 21, 2017. #
Cathal McNaughton / Reuters -
-
![]()
Read moreA Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on September 21, 2017. #
Cathal McNaughton / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreA Rohingya refugee child crawls through mud in Cox's Bazar on September 21, 2017. #
Cathal McNaughton / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreAn exhausted Rohingya refugee woman touches the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Burma border by boat through the Bay of Bengal in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh, on September 11, 2017. #
Danish Siddiqui / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreRohingya refugees are pushed back as aid is distributed in a camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on September 19, 2017. #
Cathal McNaughton / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreDesperate Rohingya grab for aid handouts of clothing and food on September 15, 2017, in Tankhali, Bangladesh. #
Paula Bronstein / Getty -
-
![]()
Read moreA Rohingya refugee waits in a camp in Cox's Bazar on September 17, 2017. #
Cathal McNaughton / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreA house burns in Gawduthar village, Maungdaw township, in the north of Rakhine state, Burma, on September 7, 2017. #
Reuters -
![]()
Read moreShaheda, a 40-year-old Rohingya refugee woman who said her body was burned when the Burmese army set fire to her house, receives treatment at the Cox's Bazar District Sadar Hospital in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on September 19, 2017. #
Mohammad Ponir Hossain / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreRohingya Muslim women, who crossed over from Burma into Bangladesh, hold their children as they wait to receive aid near the Balukhali refugee camp in Bangladesh on September 21, 2017. #
Dar Yasin / AP -
![]()
Read morePeople cross a river from a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar on September 19, 2017. #
Cathal McNaughton / Reuters -
-
![]()
Read moreLalmoti, a Rohingya Muslim woman, is carried to hospital by her son and grandson in the Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh, on September 18, 2017. #
Dar Yasin / AP -
![]()
Read moreA Rohingya refugee arrives at a camp in Cox's Bazar on September 18, 2017. #
Cathal McNaughton / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreA Rohingya refugee girl drinks rainwater dripping from a tarp in a camp in Cox's Bazar on September 20, 2017. #
Cathal McNaughton / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreRohingya refugees crowd together as aid is distributed in a camp in Cox's Bazar on September 19, 2017. #
Cathal McNaughton / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreRohingya Muslims, who crossed over recently from Burma into Bangladesh, stand in lines to receive food being distributed near the Balukhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar on September 19, 2017. #
Bernat Armangue / AP -
-
![]()
Read moreHands of refugees stretch out as they scramble for donations in the Balukhali camp on September 18, 2017, in Cox's Bazar. #
Allison Joyce / Getty -
![]()
Read moreShunwara Begum waits for aid in the Balukhali Rohingya refugee camp on September 21, 2017, in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. #
Allison Joyce / Getty
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.