Residents of Sittwe, the capital of Myanmar’s Rakhine state, said on Wednesday (September 20) that the violence in the region has caused divisions between the ethnic populations in the state.
The violence in western Myanmar began on August 25 when Rohingya insurgents attacked about 30 police posts and an army camp, killing about 12 people.
One local told Reuters that he couldn’t see the Rakhine and Rohingya people living together again.
Rights monitors and fleeing Rohingya say the army and Rakhine Buddhist vigilantes responded with a campaign of violence and arson aimed at driving out the mostly stateless Muslim population.
Some 422,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled into Bangladesh, fleeing a military offensive the United Nations has branded ethnic cleansing.
Myanmar rejects the charge, saying its forces are tackling insurgents of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army who it has accused of setting the fires and attacking civilians.