- Title: Video filmed by fleeing Rohingya Muslims shows exodus to Bangladesh
- Date: 6th September 2017
- Summary: LAUNG DON VILLAGE TRACT, RAKHINE STATE, MYANMAR (AUGUST 29, 2017) (ORIGINALLY SHOT IN PORTRAIT) (VIDEO OBTAINED BY REUTERS) PEOPLE WALKING IN A VILLAGE WITH THEIR BELONGINGS FILMED BY ROHINGYA MUSLIM ALSO ON HIS WAY TO BANGLADESH LAUNG DON VILLAGE TRACT, RAKHINE STATE, MYANMAR (AUGUST 29, 2017) (VIDEO OBTAINED BY REUTERS) PEOPLE STANDING ON BANK/ RIVER, PEOPLE ON SHORE ON LAUNG DON SIDE / PEOPLE ACROSS SHORE / BOAT/ PEOPLE GATHERED ON SHORE PEOPLE GATHERED ON SHORE/ BOATS CROSSING/ PEOPLE ON LAUNG DON SIDE (WHERE PERSON FILMING IS STANDING) PEOPLE ON SHORE/ WOMAN CARRYING BABY, MAN FILMING SAYING (English): "Only two, three boats are ferrying them, but it is not enough. Since this morning, this is like a huge volume of people, now it’s one o'clock, this is since this morning, continuously, crossing this creek by a small ferry boat, some people are swimming by themselves, very risky. We don't know how many people already drowned in the water." PEOPLE GATHERED ON SHORE WOMEN AND CHILDREN GATHERED BOAT CARRYING PEOPLE, MAN SWIMMING TOWARDS BOAT/ ANOTHER PERSON SWIMMING/ PEOPLE ON SHORE PEOPLE SWIMMING BACK TOWARDS LAUNG DON PEOPLE ON SHORE ON OTHER SIDE/ CHILDREN/ MAN FILMING ASKING TWO CHILDREN (Bengali) "What happened to you?" MAN STANDING NEXT TO THE KIDS SAYING (Bengali): "Their mother has been killed."/ BOATS CROSSING RIVER/ PEOPLE FILMING ON PHONES/ FIELD EMPTY GRASS FIELD / PEOPLE WALKING TOWARDS RIVERBANK PEOPLE WALKING TO RIVERSIDE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE STANDING AT RIVERSIDE AND LOOKING ON LAUNG DON VILLAGE TRACT, RAKHINE STATE, MYANMAR (AUGUST 29, 2017) (ORIGINALLY SHOT IN PORTRAIT) (VIDEO OBTAINED BY REUTERS) VARIOUS OF A MAN GIVING OUT WATER AT ZEE PIN CHAUNG VILLAGE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING FROM ZEE PIN CHAUNG TO KYAUK CHAUNG VILLAGE TRACT KYAUK CHUANG VILLAGE TRACT, RAKHINE STATE, MYANMAR (SEPTEMBER 1, 2017) (ORIGINALLY SHOT IN PORTRAIT) (VIDEO OBTAINED BY REUTERS) PEOPLE WAITING IN THE RAIN AT RIVERSIDE BORDER AT CHIL KHALI DEPARTURE POINT PEOPLE WAITING FOR BOAT AT CHIL KHALI DEPARTURE POINT / BOAT HEADING TOWARDS NAF RIVER SAILING PAST
- Embargoed: 20th September 2017 12:36
- Keywords: Myanmar Rohingya Muslims exodus
- Location: RAKHINE STATE, MYANMAR
- City: RAKHINE STATE, MYANMAR
- Country: Myanmar
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA0016XGJVWN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Every day for the past few weeks, hundreds of Rohingya Muslims, carrying their children and their most essential belongings, have been arriving at Laung Don crossing in Myanmar to make their way to Bangladesh.
An army crackdown in Rakhine, triggered by an attack on August 25 by Rohingya insurgents on Myanmar security forces has led to the killing of at least 400 people and the exodus of nearly 150,000 Rohingya to neighbouring Bangladesh, leading to a major humanitarian crisis.
They have come by land, river and sea. Many have died along the way.
Video filmed by one of the fleeing Rohingya captured the masses of people on boats crossing from Laung Don. The village is about 6 km (3.7 miles) away from the Naf river, which divides Myanmar and Bangladesh. Some swim across, as only two small ferries journey across the river.
Their destination is the Cox's Bazar region of impoverished Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya already live in makeshift camps, reliant on overstretched aid agencies.
The International Organization for Migration said humanitarian assistance needed to increase urgently and that it and partner agencies had an immediate funding gap of $18 million over the next three months to boost lifesaving services for the new arrivals.
Myanmar says most of the at least 400 killed have been insurgents, but accounts from new arrivals in Bangladesh suggest reprisals by Myanmar security forces and local Buddhists against Rohingya civilians the government says are in cahoots with "extremist Bengali terrorists".
Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has blamed "terrorists" for "a huge iceberg of misinformation" on the violence in Rakhine state. She has been accused by Western critics of not speaking out for the minority that has long complained of persecution, and some have called for the Nobel Peace Prize she won in 1991 as a champion of democracy to be revoked. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
