YANGON, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- A total of 2,555 Muslim villagers have gathered near the Myanmar side of the border to continue crossing into Bangladesh over the last three days to flee the conflict in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state, Myanmar News Agency reported Friday.
The large number of Muslims seeking to leave different villages in Buthidaung township has prompted the security forces to inspect and conduct law enforcement measures there.
According to the report, a total of 17,013 Muslim villagers had left their villages since Sept. 26 as of Oct. 5.
Meanwhile, 16 people including eight Hindu women and eight children, abducted to Bangladesh by Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) extremist terrorists on last Aug. 25 from Myanmar's northern Rakhine state, have been brought back to homeland over the last two days after a demand by the Myanmar side through diplomatic channel.
The returned Hindu women and children from Yebawkya village in Maungtaw survived a bloody massacre by the ARSA terrorists of at least 45 Hindu men then.
The spate of violence promoted some 30,000 locals in the northern state to flee south to Mrauk U, Sittway, Kyauktaw and Minbya, while hundreds of thousands of Muslims fled to Bangladesh border.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's National Human Rights Commission, in a statement on Wednesday, stressed emphasis on long-term peace and stability in the rehabilitation process in the northern state, calling for strict scrutiny of returnees to ensure extremist terrorists are excluded.
Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed on Monday to start the process of repatriation of refugees who have crossed into Bangladesh.
