'We, Too, Were Forced to Seek Refuge'

Since August, Burma has sharply escalated its systematic assault against a Muslim minority people there called the Rohingya, in a ravaging campaign of murder and rape which the top United Nations human rights official considers a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” On October 23, the State Department spokesperson denounced “atrocities” and “violent, traumatic abuses,” though so has so far avoided accusations of genocide or crimes against humanity. Over 200 villages have been burned and destroyed. Despite the fact they’ve lived in Burma—also known as Myanmar—for generations, the government denies citizenship to the downtrodden Rohingya and scornfully calls them “Bengalis,” with many of Burma’s Buddhist majority despising them as terrorists or illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

More than 600,000 Rohingya into neighboring Bangladesh, with multitudes arriving daily. Many have gunshot wounds or burns which urgently need medical treatment. of those who have fled are children; thousands of them are orphans or are braving the dangerous journey without the help of an adult. These hounded, terrified refugees now find themselves with little more than sticks and tarpaulins for makeshift shelter against the pummeling rains or blazing sun, often without adequate food, clean water, health care, or latrines. Babies, fatally vulnerable to infectious diseases, have fevers or diarrhea. The border areas thronged with refugees are ripe for lethal epidemics.