In this image made from video released Monday by UNHCR, thousands of Rohingya refugees arrive in Anjuman Para, Bangladesh, from Myanmar. More than 500,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees have fled violence in Myanmar and arrived in Bangladesh over the past seven weeks.
Roger Arnold/UNHCR via AP
In this image made from Oct. 16, 2017, video released by UNHCR, thousands of Rohingya refugees arrive in Anjuman Para, Bangladesh, from Myanmar. Over 500,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees have fled violence in Myanmar and arrived in Bangladesh over the past seven weeks. (Roger Arnold/UNHCR via AP)
In this image made from Oct. 16, 2017, video released by UNHCR, thousands of Rohingya refugees arrive in Anjuman Para, Bangladesh, from Myanmar. Over 500,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees have fled violence in Myanmar and arrived in Bangladesh over the past seven weeks. (Roger Arnold/UNHCR via AP)
This Sept. 21, 2017, satellite image released by Human Rights Watch shows what they say is the complete destruction of a Rohingya village in close proximity to an intact Rakhine village, Maungdaw township, Myanmar. The newly released satellite images reveal that at least 288 villages were partially or totally destroyed by fire in the northern Rakhine State in Burma since August 25, 2017, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. (Human Rights Watch/DigitalGlobe via AP)
This Sept. 15, 2017, satellite image released by Human Rights Watch shows what they say is building fires and smoke plumes in at least six villages along the coast in Maungdaw Township , Myanmar. The newly released satellite images reveal that at least 288 villages were partially or totally destroyed by fire in the northern Rakhine State in Burma since August 25, 2017, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. (Human Rights Watch/Planet via AP)
A Bangladesh border guard soldier stops newly arrived Rohingya Muslims, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, from moving ahead towards refugee camps, at Palong Khali, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. Thousands more Rohingya Muslims are fleeing large-scale violence and persecution in Myanmar and crossing into Bangladesh, where more than half a million others are already living in squalid and overcrowded camps, according to witnesses and a drone video shot by the U.N. office for refugees. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Newly arrived Rohingya Muslims, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, sit on an embankment after spending the night in the open after Bangladesh border guard soldiers prevented them from moving ahead towards refugee camps at Palong Khali, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. Thousands more Rohingya Muslims are fleeing large-scale violence and persecution in Myanmar and crossing into Bangladesh, where more than half a million others are already living in squalid and overcrowded camps, according to witnesses and a drone video shot by the U.N. office for refugees. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
A Bangladesh border guard soldier stops newly arrived Rohingya Muslims, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, from moving ahead towards refugee camps, at Palong Khali, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. Thousands more Rohingya Muslims are fleeing large-scale violence and persecution in Myanmar and crossing into Bangladesh, where more than half a million others are already living in squalid and overcrowded camps, according to witnesses and a drone video shot by the U.N. office for refugees. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Newly arrived Rohingya Muslims, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, rest after spending a night in the open as they have been prevented from moving ahead towards refugee camps by Bangladesh border guard soldiers at Palong Khali, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. Thousands more Rohingya Muslims are fleeing large-scale violence and persecution in Myanmar and crossing into Bangladesh, where more than half a million others are already living in squalid and overcrowded camps, according to witnesses and a drone video shot by the U.N. office for refugees. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Newly arrived Rohingya Muslims, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, rest on an embankment after spending a night in the open as they have been prevented from moving ahead towards refugee camps by Bangladesh border guard soldiers at Palong Khali, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. Thousands more Rohingya Muslims are fleeing large-scale violence and persecution in Myanmar and crossing into Bangladesh, where more than half a million others are already living in squalid and overcrowded camps, according to witnesses and a drone video shot by the U.N. office for refugees. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
A newly arrived Rohingya woman holds her sick son as a Bangladesh border guard soldier checks him before allowing them to proceed forward to receive medical assistance, at Palong Khali, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. Thousands more Rohingya Muslims are fleeing large-scale violence and persecution in Myanmar and crossing into Bangladesh, where more than half a million others are already living in squalid and overcrowded camps, according to witnesses and a drone video shot by the U.N. office for refugees. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Newly arrived Rohingya Muslims sit in the rain covering themselves with plastic sheets after Bangladesh border guard soldiers prevented them from moving ahead towards refugee camps at Palong Khali, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. Thousands more Rohingya Muslims are fleeing large-scale violence and persecution in Myanmar and crossing into Bangladesh, where more than half a million others are already living in squalid and overcrowded camps, according to witnesses and a drone video shot by the U.N. office for refugees. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Newly arrived Rohingya Muslims wait in the rain covering themselves with plastic sheets after Bangladesh border guard soldiers prevented them from moving ahead towards refugee camps at Palong Khali, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. Thousands more Rohingya Muslims are fleeing large-scale violence and persecution in Myanmar and crossing into Bangladesh, where more than half a million others are already living in squalid and overcrowded camps, according to witnesses and a drone video shot by the U.N. office for refugees. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
A newly arrived Rohingya Muslim boy, who crossing over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, walks with his belongings at Palong Khali, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. Thousands more Rohingya Muslims are fleeing large-scale violence and persecution in Myanmar and crossing into Bangladesh, where more than half a million others are already living in squalid and overcrowded camps, according to witnesses and a drone video shot by the U.N. office for refugees. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
A newly arrived Rohingya Muslim woman Anjuna Khatoon, 23, holds her 5-day-old baby girl who she gave birth to while making the journey to cross the border from Myanmar to Bangladesh, at Palong Khali, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. Thousands more Rohingya Muslims are fleeing large-scale violence and persecution in Myanmar and crossing into Bangladesh, where more than half a million others are already living in squalid and overcrowded camps, according to witnesses and a drone video shot by the U.N. office for refugees. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
A newly arrived Rohingya Muslim woman stands in the rain carrying her son after Bangladesh border guard soldiers prevented them from moving ahead towards refugee camps at Palong Khali, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. Thousands more Rohingya Muslims are fleeing large-scale violence and persecution in Myanmar and crossing into Bangladesh, where more than half a million others are already living in squalid and overcrowded camps, according to witnesses and a drone video shot by the U.N. office for refugees. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
A newly arrived Rohingya Muslim boy, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, carries his belonging in the rain in Palong Khali, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. Thousands more Rohingya Muslims are fleeing large-scale violence and persecution in Myanmar and crossing into Bangladesh, where more than half a million others are already living in squalid and overcrowded camps, according to witnesses and a drone video shot by the U.N. office for refugees. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh – Thousands more Rohingya Muslims are fleeing large-scale violence and persecution in Myanmar and crossing into Bangladesh, where more than half a million others are already living in squalid and overcrowded camps, according to witnesses and a drone video shot by the U.N. refugee agency.
The UNHCR video shot Monday shows thousands upon thousands of Rohingya Muslims trudging along a narrow strip of land alongside what appears to a rain-swollen creek in the Palong Khali area in southern Bangladesh. The line of refugees stretches for a few miles.
Witnesses say a new wave of refugees started crossing the border over the weekend. An Associated Press photographer saw thousands of newcomers near one border crossing Tuesday. Several said that they were stopped by Bangladeshi border guards and spent the night in muddy rice fields.
In Geneva on Tuesday, UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic said an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Rohingya had fled since Sunday night – raising the overall total to 582,000 refugees who have left Myanmar since Aug. 25.
He said the latest influx came through the Anjuman Para border crossing point, and many of the new refugees explained they had fled when their villages were set on fire. Anjuman Para is in the Palong Khali area where the drone video was shot.
“As of this morning, they are still squatting in the paddy fields of Anjuman Para village in Bangladesh,” Mahecic told a news briefing. “They are waiting for permission to move away from the border, where the sound of gunfire continues to be heard every night from the Myanmar side.”
The violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar’s Rakhine state erupted after a Rohingya insurgent group known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacked at least 30 security outposts on Aug. 25 and the military responded with brutal attacks against the Rohingya Muslim population.
The exodus of Rohingya has continued, with a few small breaks, over the last eight weeks.
The new arrivals, almost all terrified and starving, described scenes of incredible violence with army troops and Buddhist mobs attacking Rohingya homes. The U.N. has described the violence as “textbook ethnic cleansing.”
More recent refugees have also said the Rohingya were being starved in a bid to make them leave.
A woman who spoke to the AP on Tuesday after her arrival said they had nothing to eat.
“We came here two nights ago with lots of difficulties. It took us eight days to reach here,” said Anjuma, who gave just one name.
Several refugees said Bangladesh border guards were not letting them move toward the refugee camps and they were forced to spend the night in the open in pelting rain.
Myanmar officials have denied any systematic violence against the Rohingya Muslims. On Monday, the commander in chief of the country’s army accused them of bullying Buddhists in Rakhine with the help of foreign organizations, which he said includes the United Nations.
Senior General Min Aung referred to the Rohingya as “Bengalis” as he spoke to Jeffrey Feltman, the U.N. under secretary-general for political affairs.
Many Buddhists in Myanmar call the Rohingya “Bengalis” and say they migrated illegally from Bangladesh, even though they have lived in the country for generations. Most Rohingya have been denied citizenship since 1982 and are excluded from the country’s 135 official ethnic groups, which effectively renders them stateless.
“Bengalis themselves need to accept the fact that they are Bengalis, not Rohingya,” the army chief said.
In Washington, D.C., a bipartisan group of nine U.S. senators wrote to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday commending her for opening her nation’s borders to Rohingya but also urging her to accelerate the approvals for aid groups to do humantarian work and increase cooperation with UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration.
“This will ensure proper coordination of assistance, including building of appropriate shelters, and adequate provision of food and medical care, as well as psychosocial support to address widespread trauma among the population,” said the signatories, led by Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin and Republican Sen. Cory Gardner.
Associated Press writers Julhas Alam in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Muneeza Naqvi in New Delhi, Esther Htusan in Yangon, Myanmar, Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Matthew Pennington in Washington, D.C., contributed to this story.
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