Number of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh surges: UNHCR

COX‘S BAZAR, Bangladesh, 08 Sept. - (ANA) - About 270,000 Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar have sought refuge in Bangladesh in the past two weeks, a spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said on Friday.

Vivian Tan said the number had jumped from an estimate of 164,000 on Thursday because the agency had found new pockets of refugees in border areas.

“This does not necessarily reflect fresh arrivals within the past 24 hours but that we have identified more people in different areas that we were not aware of before,” she said.

“The numbers are so alarming - it really means that we have to step up our response and that the situation in Myanmar has to be addressed urgently.” - (ANA) -

AB/ANA/ 08 September 2017 - - -