File photo: A woman carries her daughter as she walks on a flooded street in Kyaikto township, Mon state, Myanmar
Floods after heavy monsoon rains displaced more than 16,000 people in Myanmar, local media reported on Thursday.
A total of 16,792 people were displaced by floods -- which began over the weekend in southeastern Kayin State -- as of Wednesday, the Myanmar Times reported, quoting the Department of Disaster Management.
Some 10,368 people were forced to flee their homes in the state capital Hpa-an because of flood water from the Thanlwin River, it added.
More than 300 Rohingya shelters in no man’s land were hit by a flood on Tuesday night, a local online broadcaster reported on Wednesday.“At no man’s land nearly 7,000 Rohingya up to date are sheltering since last year, when they were forced to flee their homes in northern Rakhine state,” Rohingya Vision reported.No man's land is a small strip of land along the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar.Since Aug. 25, 2017, more than 750,000 refugees, mostly children and women, have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community, according to Amnesty International.Myanmar claws through rubble for 27 buried in jade mine landslideFive children killed in landslide in SE BangladeshAt least 9,400 Rohingya were killed in Rakhine from Aug. 25 to Sept. 24 last year, according to Doctors Without Borders.In a report published recently, the humanitarian group said the deaths of 71.7 percent or 6,700 Rohingya were caused by violence. They include 730 children below the age of 5.The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.The UN documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by security personnel.
Flood hits over 300 Rohingya shelters in no man’s land
Many evacuation centers were set up across the state to provide temporary shelters for the victims.
Monsoon rains affected a large part of the Philippines, Japan and Southeast Asia this summer.
In Bangladesh, the Rohingya Muslims face the risk of losing shelters due to monsoon rains and many infectious diseases due to polluted water sources.