UN chief says violence against Myanmar’s Rohingyas must end

Associated Press
Young Rohingya Muslim refugees look on through a temporary bamboo barricade at the Thankhali refugee camp in Bangladesh's Ukhia district on November 10, 2017. More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since late August carrying accounts of murder, rape and arson at the hands of Myanmar's powerful army during a military crackdown dubbed as "ethnic cleansing" by the UN. (AFP / Dibyangshu Sarkar)

UNITED NATIONS: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says it is “an absolutely essential priority” to stop all violence against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims, allow them to return to their homes, and determine their legal status.
The UN chief told reporters Friday that the UN is also insisting on “unhindered humanitarian access” to all areas of northern Rakhine State, where more than 600,000 Rohingyas lived before fleeing to Bangladesh.
The latest violence began with a series of attacks Aug. 25 by Rohingya insurgents. Myanmar security forces responded with a scorched-earth campaign against Rohingya villages that the UN and human rights groups have called disproportionate and a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
Guterres called the situation “an immense tragedy,” saying that the “levels of violence and the atrocities committed are something that we cannot be silent about.”