Sectarian Fighting Sweeps through Myanmar

(Vatican Radio) Authorities in Myanmar say a week of sectarian fighting has left at least 67 people dead, and almost 3,000 houses destroyed.

The violence has caused many people to flee to refugee camps, which already housed victims of violence in June. Mobs and vigilante-type groups torched houses and attacked residents in seven towns in western Myanmar, official reports there say.

The fighting is between Buddhist ethinc Rakhine and Muslim ethnic Rohingyas, many of whom have lived in Myanmar for generations but whom the government there considers to be illegal settlers from adjacent Bangladesh.
The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, this week warned the violence could threaten Myanmar's ongoing reforms.
And now human rights groups too have urged the Myanmar government to protect all residents there: One group, Human Rights Watch, released before-and-after satellite images of the town of Kyaukpyu. It said the pictures show near total destruction of a Rohingya neighbourhood. It counted more than 600 houses and 170 houseboats destroyed.
In June, similar violence left 90 people dead and about 75-thousand living in camps, which are now reported to be trying to cope with a whole new influx.
Listen to the full report by regional correspondent Alastair Wanklyn: