In Bangladesh, the bodies of 13 Rohingya refugees—including eight children—washed ashore Thursday, after their boat capsized. The dead were among 130 Rohingya aboard the vessel who were fleeing a government-backed ethnic cleansing campaign in neighboring Burma. At the United Nations, the Security Council heard Thursday from U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, who warned systematic violence risked spilling further into Burma’s Rakhine state, where an additional quarter-million Rohingya might be displaced.
Secretary-General António Guterres: “We have received bone-chilling accounts from those who fled, mainly women, children and the elderly. These testimonies point to excessive violence and serious violations of human rights, including indiscriminate fighting of weapons, the presence of landmines and sexual violence. This is unacceptable and must end immediately.”