Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh
Pictures of the Year: Persecuted Rohingya Muslims flee violence in Myanmar
Attacks by Rohingya Muslim insurgents on the Myanmar security forces in Rakhine state triggered a response by the army and Buddhist vigilantes so brutal a senior U.N. official denounced it as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. Days, weeks and months after the Aug. 25 violence, more than 600,000 Rohingya fled to Muslim Bangladesh, trekking over mountains and through forests and rice fields inundated by monsoon rain. Many of the refugees were traumatised, exhausted and hungry, some wounded by bullets, knives or clubs, many with burns. Many women said they had been raped. All of the refugees brought accounts of a campaign of murderous violence and arson by the Myanmar security forces and Buddhist civilians that they believed was aimed at driving them out of the country. Mostly Buddhist Myanmar denies the accusations. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui/File Photo SEARCH "POY ROHINGYA" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "REUTERS POY" FOR ALL BEST OF 2017 PACKAGES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY. Matching text: GLOBAL-POY/MYANMAR-ROHINGYA