The UN Human Rights Council would gather for extraordinary meetings next Tuesday in Geneva to discuss the situation of the Rohingya in Myanmar.
The UN would engage in the discussion amid reports that the violence against the minority had not stopped.
The session was requested by Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh, which took more than 620,000 refugees of the Muslim Rohingya community from Myanmar’s Rakhine State since late August, as the spokesperson of the UN body said on Tuesday.
UN investigators reported in October that Myanmar security forces and Buddhist civilians systematically attacked Rohingya to drive them out of the country.
Citing refugees who continued to arrive in Bangladesh, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday said the attacks had continued.
One woman who said her village had been burned down just seven days ago also reported that she had witnessed kidnappings, IOM spokesperson Joel Millman told reporters in Geneva.
“People are still arriving in the settlements with horrifying accounts of physical and sexual abuse, harassment and murder,’’ the UN agency spokesperson added.
Previously, Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed to repatriate the Rohingya refugees.
However, the UN Refugee Agency warned that Rakhine was not yet safe, and that returnees would struggle to make a living as their villages had been destroyed.
Several hundred refugees are still arriving in Bangladesh every day, according to IOM.
Buddhist-majority Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingya as an ethnic group. Most Rohingya are therefore stateless and have restricted access to healthcare, education and jobs. (dpa/NAN)
