Thousands of Rohingya Muslims flee Myanmar violence

TEKNAF, Bangladesh: Horrifying stories of gang rape, torture and murder are emerging from among the thousands of desperate Rohingya migrants who have pushed into Bangladesh in the past few days to escape unfolding chaos in Myanmar.

Up to 30,000 of the impoverished ethnic group have fled their homes, the United Nations says, after troops poured into the narrow strip where they live earlier this month.

Bangladesh has resisted urgent international appeals to open its border to avert a humanitarian crisis, instead telling Myanmar it must do more to prevent the stateless Muslim minority from entering.

The scale of human suffering was becoming clear Thursday, as desperate people like Mohammad Ayaz told how troops attacked his village and killed his pregnant wife.

Cradling his two-year-old son, he said military men killed at least 300 men in the village market and gang-raped dozens of women before setting fire to around 300 houses, Muslim-owned shops and the mosque where he served as imam.

"They shot dead my wife, Jannatun Naim. She was 25 and seven months pregnant. I took refuge at a canal with my two-year-old son, who was hit by a rifle butt," Ayaz told AFP, pointing to a cut on the boy´s forehead.

Ayaz sold his watch and shoes to pay for the journey and has taken shelter along with at least 200 of his neighbours at a camp for unregistered Rohingya refugees.

Many of those seeking shelter in Bangladesh say they have walked for days and used rickety boats to cross into the neighbouring country, where hundreds of thousands of registered Rohingya refugees have been living for decades.

The Rohingya are loathed by many in majority Buddhist Myanmar who see them as illegal immigrants and call them "Bengali", even though many have lived in Myanmar for generations.

Most live in impoverished western Rakhine state, but are denied citizenship and smothered by restrictions on movement and work.

As the crisis deepened, Bangladesh said late on Wednesday it had summoned the Myanmar ambassador to express "deep concern".

"Despite our border guards´ sincere effort to prevent the influx, thousands of distressed Myanmar citizens including women, children and elderly people continue to cross the border into Bangladesh," it said. "Thousands more have been reported to be gathering at the border crossing."

Since the latest violence flared up, Bangladesh´s secular government has been under intense pressure to open its border to prevent a humanitarian disaster.