UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee [official profile] on Thursday expressed grave concern [press release] for Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar as the “cycle of violence” against them worsens. Thousands of Rohingya Muslims fled to Bangladesh and nearly 18,000 more [BBC report] are attempting the same in response to the violent outbreak that ensued in Myanmar last week. Military action against this Muslim population commenced last Friday after a group of Rohingya insurgents attacked 30 police stations. An estimated 400 people [Reuters report] have been killed as a result of the violence and nearly 38,000 have successfully entered Bangladesh. Coverage of the situation is limited, as few reporters have access to Rakhine state.

Human rights has been on the forefront of Myanmar’s new democratic government since ending a decades-old military rule. On Tuesday UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein urged people to refrain from violence [press release] against Myanmar security forces, for authorities to adhere to human rights law, and for authorities to prohibit use of provocative media usage in the northern regions of Rakhine state. In his statement, Zeid noted that the acts of violence committed in northern Rakhine against Myanmar security forces could have been “predicted and could have been prevented” due to “decades of persistent and systematic human rights violations [which] have almost certainly contributed to the nurturing of violent extremism.” In March the UN Human Rights Council [official website] passed a resolution to investigate [JURIST report] potential human rights violations in Myanmar, but reported earlier this month that no such violations were found [JURIST report].