BANGLADESH: About 18,000 Rohingya Muslims are estimated to have crossed into Bangladesh in the last week, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday, seeking to escape the worst violence in Myanmar鈥檚 northwest in at least five years.
A series of coordinated attacks by Rohingya insurgents on security forces in the north of Myanmar鈥檚 Rakhine state on Friday and ensuing clashes triggered the exodus, while the government evacuated thousands of Rakhine Buddhists.
The IOM said it was difficult to estimate the number of people stranded in the no man鈥檚 land at the border between the neighbors, but added there were 鈥渉undreds and hundreds鈥� of people stuck there.