SITTWE, Myanmar - Myanmar soldiers on Monday patrolled a riot-hit region placed under emergency rule following a wave of violence, as the United Nations evacuated workers.
The surge in sectarian unrest presents a major test for President Thein Sein, a former general credited with pushing through a series of dramatic political reforms since the end of decades of military rule last year.
In Sittwe, the capital of restive western Rakhine state, an AFP reporter saw the charred remains of houses as well as troops outside monasteries and mosques, while military trucks were at the city's airport.
Rakhine, which is predominantly Buddhist, is home to a large number of Muslims including the Rohingya, a stateless people described by the United Nations as one of the world's most persecuted minorities.
A cycle of apparent revenge attacks has gripped the state following the recent rape and murder of a Rakhine woman, which prompted an angry Buddhist mob to beat 10 Muslims to death earlier this month.
At least seven people have died in clashes since Friday and 500 homes have been destroyed, according to official media.
The Myanmar government considers the Rohingya to be foreigners, while many citizens see them as illegal immigrants and view them with hostility, describing them as "Bengalis".
Authorities in neighbouring Bangladesh have stepped up security along the border and in refugee camps where tens of thousands of Rohingya live.
The United Nations began evacuating about 44 workers and their families from a base in Maungdaw in Rakhine state, said Ashok Nigam, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Yangon.
He said the temporary move was "because of the insecurity and disturbance".
Both the local Buddhists and the Rohingya have traded increasingly angry accusations over the eruption in sectarian violence.
"Yesterday (Sunday) the Bengalis burnt down houses and also killed some people but we don't know how many," said a local Buddhist woman, who said she had not witnessed the incidents herself.
Abu Tahay, of the National Democratic Party for Development, which represents the Rohingya, said a number of Rohingya had been shot dead by security forces or killed by Buddhists.
"I'm still worried because there are racist Rakhine people. They don't believe in peaceful cohabitation," he said by telephone from Yangon.
At one mosque in Sittwe, a man was seen being taken away by locals although it is unknown what happened to him. Residents said that when they found any Rohingya they handed them to the security forces.
Thein Sein ordered the state of emergency for Rakhine state in response to unrest that saw hundreds of Buddhist villagers' homes set ablaze and has left seven people dead since Friday, state television said late Sunday.
Violent attacks fuelled by "hatred and revenge based on religion and nationality" in Rakhine could spread to other parts of the country, Myanmar's leader warned in an address to the nation.
He said the unrest threatened to undermine national stability, development and democratic reforms by his government, which took power last year following the end of decades of outright military rule.
Former colonial power Britain on Sunday urged Myanmar to open talks with community groups "to end the violence and to protect all members of the local population".
It also warned its citizens "against all but essential travel to Rakhine State".
Myanmar's Muslims -- of Indian, Chinese and Bangladeshi descent -- account for an estimated four percent of the roughly 60 million population in a country where for many people Buddhism forms an intrinsic part of national identity.
According to the UN, there are nearly 800,000 Rohingya living in Myanmar, mostly in Rakhine. Another one million or more are thought to live in other countries.
On Sunday around 600 ethnic Rakhine gathered at the Shwedagon Pagoda, a revered Buddhist site in the main city of Yangon, demanding "Bengalis" be "removed from Myanmar".
- AFP/al/ir
The surge in sectarian unrest presents a major test for President Thein Sein, a former general credited with pushing through a series of dramatic political reforms since the end of decades of military rule last year.
In Sittwe, the capital of restive western Rakhine state, an AFP reporter saw the charred remains of houses as well as troops outside monasteries and mosques, while military trucks were at the city's airport.
Rakhine, which is predominantly Buddhist, is home to a large number of Muslims including the Rohingya, a stateless people described by the United Nations as one of the world's most persecuted minorities.
A cycle of apparent revenge attacks has gripped the state following the recent rape and murder of a Rakhine woman, which prompted an angry Buddhist mob to beat 10 Muslims to death earlier this month.
At least seven people have died in clashes since Friday and 500 homes have been destroyed, according to official media.
The Myanmar government considers the Rohingya to be foreigners, while many citizens see them as illegal immigrants and view them with hostility, describing them as "Bengalis".
Authorities in neighbouring Bangladesh have stepped up security along the border and in refugee camps where tens of thousands of Rohingya live.
The United Nations began evacuating about 44 workers and their families from a base in Maungdaw in Rakhine state, said Ashok Nigam, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Yangon.
He said the temporary move was "because of the insecurity and disturbance".
Both the local Buddhists and the Rohingya have traded increasingly angry accusations over the eruption in sectarian violence.
"Yesterday (Sunday) the Bengalis burnt down houses and also killed some people but we don't know how many," said a local Buddhist woman, who said she had not witnessed the incidents herself.
Abu Tahay, of the National Democratic Party for Development, which represents the Rohingya, said a number of Rohingya had been shot dead by security forces or killed by Buddhists.
"I'm still worried because there are racist Rakhine people. They don't believe in peaceful cohabitation," he said by telephone from Yangon.
At one mosque in Sittwe, a man was seen being taken away by locals although it is unknown what happened to him. Residents said that when they found any Rohingya they handed them to the security forces.
Thein Sein ordered the state of emergency for Rakhine state in response to unrest that saw hundreds of Buddhist villagers' homes set ablaze and has left seven people dead since Friday, state television said late Sunday.
Violent attacks fuelled by "hatred and revenge based on religion and nationality" in Rakhine could spread to other parts of the country, Myanmar's leader warned in an address to the nation.
He said the unrest threatened to undermine national stability, development and democratic reforms by his government, which took power last year following the end of decades of outright military rule.
Former colonial power Britain on Sunday urged Myanmar to open talks with community groups "to end the violence and to protect all members of the local population".
It also warned its citizens "against all but essential travel to Rakhine State".
Myanmar's Muslims -- of Indian, Chinese and Bangladeshi descent -- account for an estimated four percent of the roughly 60 million population in a country where for many people Buddhism forms an intrinsic part of national identity.
According to the UN, there are nearly 800,000 Rohingya living in Myanmar, mostly in Rakhine. Another one million or more are thought to live in other countries.
On Sunday around 600 ethnic Rakhine gathered at the Shwedagon Pagoda, a revered Buddhist site in the main city of Yangon, demanding "Bengalis" be "removed from Myanmar".
- AFP/al/ir
