Many Rohingya women are raped in Myanmar, Bangladesh home minister says

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has said many of the female Rohingya refugees were raped in Myanmar during the army operation against the ethnic group in Rakhine State.

"They have fled unimaginable  persecution and taken shelter to our country," he told reporters after a programme in Dhaka on Wednesday.

The minister said he recently visited Cox's Bazar, the southeastern district where the Rohingya refugees have taken shelter and spoke to many of them.

"Of the women, 90 percent were raped while all the children were wounded," he said.

Later, a spokesperson for the ministry said the minister mentioned the numbers to describe 'the degree of atrocities against the Rohingyas, not from any study.'

The Myanmar Army launched the operation after Rohingya insurgents attacked security forces on Aug 25.

At least 380,000 Rohingyas have fled the violence into Bangladesh since that day, according to the UN.

Bangladesh, earlier, sheltered another 400,000 Rohingyas who fled persecution in Myanmar over the decades.

"We've seen that other countries speak differently when they have to receive some thousands of refugees while Bangladesh has arranged food and shelter for hundreds of thousands of refugees," the minister said.

He, however, admitted that Bangladesh's social system could be 'disturbed' by the influx of Rohingyas.

He said the authorities were taking steps to stop the refugees from spreading.

He noted that the refugees would be provided with biometric identity cards.