60 Rohingyas feared dead as boat capsizes

The refugees drowned in heavy seas off Bangladesh late on Thursday

More than 60 Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar are believed to have drowned when their boat capsized, the latest victims in what the United Nations says is the world’s fastest-developing refugee emergency.

A Rohingya Muslim refugee mourns beside the bodies of his three children at a school in Cox's Bazar district on Friday. Pic/AFP

The refugees drowned in heavy seas off Bangladesh late on Thursday, part of a new surge of people fleeing a Myanmar military campaign that began on August 25 and has triggered an exodus of some 5,02,000 people. International anger over the crisis is growing.

In New York, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called on countries to suspend providing weapons to Myanmar over the violence. It was the first time the US had called for punishment of Myanmar’s military, but she stopped short of threatening to reimpose US sanctions, which were suspended under the Obama administration.

Aug 25
The day when the Rohingya Muslims escaped from a Myanmar military camp

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