Crisis in Myanmar deemed 'a textbook example of ethnic cleansing' as 313,000 flee across border

Rohingya Muslim refugees, September 2017.
(Image credit: MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

The United Nations high commissioner for human rights described the crisis unfolding in Myanmar as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing" as an estimated 313,000 refugees have fled over the border into neighboring Bangladesh, NPR reports.

The refugees are mostly members of the Rohingya Muslim community, an ethnic minority group in Myanmar. Violence broke out after Rohingya militants clashed with Myanmar security forces last month, and the civilians who fled report being attacked by militants, government troops, and Buddhist mobs alike. "When the military started shooting in our village, we quickly took my children into the jungle and hid them; they were scared from the dangers in the wild," one refugee wrote in Al Jazeera. "But when I went back to check on the house, I saw right in front of my eyes that many people had been killed."

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.