Myanmar crisis 'textbook ethnic cleansing'

The top UN human rights official has denounced Myanmar's "brutal security operation" against Muslim Rohingyas in Rakhine state, which he says "seems a textbook example of ethnic cleansing".

Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, said more than 270,000 people had fled to Bangladesh, with more trapped on the border, amid reports of the burning of villages and extrajudicial killings.

"I call on the government to end its current cruel military operation, with accountability for all violations that have occurred, and to reverse the pattern of severe and widespread discrimination against the Rohingya population," Zeid said.