A Rohingya refugee pulls a child as they walk to shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat on Sunday. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters.
GENEVA: A senior UN human rights official on Monday said Myanmar's security operation in Rakhine state "seems a textbook example of ethnic cleansing".
High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, addressing the UN's Human Rights Council in Geneva, called on the Myanmar government to end the "brutal security operation" in the country's Muslim-populated areas.
He said the force used in the operations is "clearly disproportionate" to rebel attacks carried out last month.
The UN official also called on the government to "reverse the pattern of severe and widespread discrimination against the Rohingya population".
He revealed that more than 270,000 people had fled to Bangladesh so far with more trapped on the border, amid reports of extrajudicial killings.
