An expert on Rohingya Muslims says a growing sense of desperation is fueling a mass exodus from western Myanmar, with at least 8,000 members of the long-persecuted minority fleeing by boat in less than two weeks.
Chris Lewa, director of the The Arakan Project, says an average of 900 people per day have been piling into cargo ships parked off Rakhine state since October 15.
Myanmar’s 1.3 million Rohingya have been denied citizenship and have almost no rights. Attacks by Buddhist mobs have left hundreds dead and 140,000 trapped in camps.
In recent weeks, an aggressive campaign by authorities to officially categorize them as “Bengalis”, implying they are illegal migrants from neighboring Bangladesh, has aggravated their situation.