Burma: ethnic violence displaces tens of thousands

(Vatican Radio) In Burma, a week of violence has left dozens of people dead, and the United Nations says the fighting has forced tens of thousands from their homes. Many of those indidivduals are now seeking refuge in camps housing victims of fighting earlier in the year. Twenty-two thousand people are reported to be on the move, homeless - many of them - after mobs ransacked mainly Muslim neighborhoods, burning homes and slaughtering residents:
The UN's humanitarian office in Burma says about four thousand six hundred homes were destroyed in a week of violence, and on top of similar fighting earlier this year the total number of displaced people is now estimated to be about 100 thousand. Listen to this report from regional correspondent Alastair Wanklyn:

The fighting is described as being between mainly Buddhist ethnic Rakhines and Muslim ethnic Rohingyas, many of whom have lived in Burma for generations, but are considered by the govenrment there to be illegal settlers from neighbouring Bangladesh. The UN underscored that the casualties include members of both communities, victims of long-term resentment and retribution The Burmese govenrment has acknowledged the destruction of whole neighbourhoods
and has sent a minister to inspect the area. The UN said it is distributing emergency food and shelter supplies to some of those left homeless.