孟加拉国和缅甸的国际难民机构和救援工作者为数以千计逃离缅甸若开邦宗派暴力的难民处境的恶化感到担心。
联合国难民署亚洲新闻负责人在孟加拉国告诉美国之音缅甸语组说，从缅甸越境逃难的1万8千多人如今面临住房短缺的问题。
国际移民组织等援助团体告诉美国之音孟加拉语组说，缅甸边境一侧还有多达2万人，希望能进入孟加拉国。
美国之音记者报道说，缅甸国内的一些社区也挤满了逃难的人，援助工作者担心，缺少食物安全保障和个人卫生设施会造成传染病的肆虐。
若开邦的村民从8月25日开始外出逃难。此前，一群穆斯林反叛武装对警察哨所发动了一系列袭击。有报道说，缅甸保安当局对罗兴亚人的村庄进行粗暴突袭，以示回应。
这一轮袭击是过去至少五年来该地区发生的最严重的暴力事件，让信仰伊斯兰教的罗兴亚人和缅甸占人口多数的佛教徒纷纷弃家出逃。
International refugee agencies and relief workers in Bangladesh and Myanmar are concerned about worsening conditions for the thousands of people who have fled sectarian violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
Vivian Tan, the Asia press director for the U.N. refugee agency, is in Bangladesh and told VOA’s Burmese service that there is a shortage of shelter for the more than 18,000 people who have fled over the border from Myanmar.
The International Organization for Migration and other aid groups have told VOA’s Bangla service that as many as 20,000 more people are staged just inside Myanmar, hoping to enter Bangladesh.
In Myanmar, some communities are packed with internally displaced people, and relief workers fear that the lack of food safety and personal hygiene facilities could spread infectious diseases, a VOA journalist reported.
People began flowing out of their villages in Rakhine on August 25, after a group of Muslim insurgents launched a series of attacks on police posts. There are reports that Myanmar security authorities responded with brutal raids on Rohingya villages.
The attacks, the worst violence in the region in at least five years, sent both Rohingya, who are Muslims, and people from the Buddhist majority scrambling for safety.