Rights body accuses Myanmar of 'ethnic cleansing'

According to government figures cited by HRW, 211 people have died in two outbreaks of Buddhist-Muslim violence in Rakhine since June 2012, but the rights monitor said it believed the real figure was much higher.

In the deadliest incident, according to the rights watchdog, about 50-70 Rohingya, including 28 children, were reportedly killed in a village after police and soldiers disarmed them and failed to protect them from a mob.

Myanmar views its population of roughly 800,000 Rohingya as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. Thousands have fled Myanmar since June on rickety boats, mostly believed to be heading for Malaysia after Bangladesh refused them entry.

 Other Muslims were also targeted in violence last month in central Myanmar, where at least 43 people were killed.

The BBC on Monday released footage which appeared to show police standing by as Buddhist rioters, including monks, attacked Muslims in the town of Meiktila in March.

The British broadcaster said in one case police looked on as a severely burned man lay on the ground unaided.

Robertson said that "impunity" for abuses in Rakhine had encouraged extremists in other parts of the country.

"The central government has taken no action to punish those responsible or reverse the ethnic cleansing of the forcibly displaced Muslims," he said.

Human Rights Watch and other campaign groups have urged democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to speak out more forcefully on the plight of Myanmar's minorities, in the buildup to general elections due to take place in 2015.

Last week in Tokyo, the Nobel Peace Prize winner said she felt "sad" at the anti-Muslim bloodshed and urged respect for the "rule of law".

 AFP