Rohingya Hindus in Myanmar have joined Muslims seeking refuge in Bangladesh following the killing of 86 people from their community in the neighbouring Buddhist country.
According to reports, as many as 500 Hindus have made it to Bangladesh's Cox Bazar along with thousands of other Rohingya Muslims following the violence in Myanmar.
Over 90,000 people have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar in the past few days and many are still trapped on the border, devoid of basic necessities, UN officials claimed.
The latest incident of violence erupted in Rakhine on August 25 where Rohingya insurgents attacked many police posts that killed as many as 400 people.
Rakhine is the poorest region in Myanmar and is home to over a million Rohingyas, who have faced prosecution for decades owing to Buddhist-majority in their country.
Who are Hindu Rohingyas?
There is a Hindu village, a mile north-west of Kutupalong, where Hindu Rohingyas from Rakhine had reportedly found shelter after they fled through the mountains. Latest official census in Myanmar reveals that Hindus account for 0.5 percent of the country's population while Muslim constitute about 4.3 percent.
The observer reported that 200 people that included women, children and elderly were hidden inside a barn. A woman who fled with her three children explained that they had heard about the fighting and found that Hindus elsewhere had been killed.
Hindus found refuge in Coz Bazar
A Bangladeshi official, on conditions of anonymity, said that 414 Hindus from Myanmar's Rakhine have taken refuge at a Hindu village of Cox Bazar. Interestingly, the president of Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Council, Rana Dasgupta, said that the number was actually more.
According to Hindu refugees, a few people with masks and dressed in black attire had attacked their houses and killed as many as 86 people back in August in Myanmar's Mangdu district.
There were several stories of masked men, armed with guns, looting and beheading villagers. The fact that they were Hindu minorities ceased to make a difference. In Rakhine, violence did not stop due to religious boundaries. Hindu women were raped and burnt, according to some reports.
Another Rohingya Hindu, Bijay Ram, managed to escape with 120 other families from Oti Roah village in Myanmar. Bijay Ram recalled, "The gun-toting masked men came one Thursday afternoon and drove us into our homes. For the next six days, they did not allow anyone to come out. On the seventh day, when they had gone to a nearby village, we fled for our lives."
The council president said that the attack on Myanmar Hindus should be investigated and the perpetrators should be brought to justice.
