Myanmar’s Muslim refugees strain villages

Rohingya Muslims fleeing ethnic violence in the west find welcoming but wary neighbours and meagre supplies.

The ongoing ethnic violence in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state is starting to take a toll on the villages that have taken in displaced Muslims.

In one town recently visited by Al Jazeera, the Rohingya who had fled their own burning village were welcomed in a neighbouring town populated mostly by fellow Kaman and Rohingya. Even there, however, some locals have been pushed into accommodating 20 people to a house.

The Rohingyas’ refuge is tenuous, with Buddhist men in one town over watching their new neighbours warily. The central government has dispatched some police and army troops to keep the peace, but amid spreading violence between the two sides, another town may be receiving refugees soon.

Al Jazeera’s Wayne Hay reports from western Myanmar.

Source: Al Jazeera