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Photo Of Rohingya Woman Mourning Her Dead Infant Underscores Worsening Crisis

Hamida is one of more than 400,000 Rohingya refugees who has fled violence in Myanmar in the last few weeks. (Photo: Mohammad Ponir Hossain / Reuters)
Hamida is one of more than 400,000 Rohingya refugees who has fled violence in Myanmar in the last few weeks. (Photo: Mohammad Ponir Hossain / Reuters)

The bloodshed overtaking Myanmar’s Rakhine state forced Hamida, a Rohingya Muslim, to run from her homeland last week. She, her husband Nasir Ahmed, their two young sons and about a dozen other refugees boarded a small fishing boat crossing the Bay of Bengal to the Bangladesh village of Shah Porir Dwip, Reuters reported.

The photo below was taken when the family arrived in Teknaf, Bangladesh after their boat capsized. She survived, but Abdul Masood, her 40-day-old infant, did not.

“I rushed to the spot and found people crying over the dead body of a child,” Reuters photographer Mohammad Ponir Hossain said.

Hamida’s and Nasir Ahmed’s horror mirrors ones that thousands of families have experienced in recent weeks following recent unrest in the area. The Rohingya community, an ethnic minority in Myanmar, have been persecuted for decades, but violence flared up last month after Rohingya militants attacked local police posts. Local government forces responded with a widespread crackdown of Rohingya villages across the northwest part of the country, pillaging villages, leaving hundreds dead and threatening thousands more.

More than 400,000 Rohingya people have fled Myanmar into Bangladesh. Some of the refugees have recounted the scenes of carnage they left behind in Rakhine state.

“We were all watching what the military did,” Soe Win, a 10th-grade teacher, told The Washington Post from Ukhia, Bangladesh. “They slaughtered them one by one. And the blood flowed in the streets.”

Bangladesh’s government announced Sunday that it plans to build shelters capable of accommodating 400,000 people in the next ten days. The refugees won’t be allowed outside the camps, the government said.

Nasir Ahmed cradles his dead son. (Photo: Mohammad Ponir Hossain / Reuters)
Nasir Ahmed cradles his dead son. (Photo: Mohammad Ponir Hossain / Reuters)

Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has drawn international condemnation over her response to the violence, which she has dismissed as being the product of “a huge iceberg of misinformation.”

Suu Kyi is expected to address the issue on Tuesday in a televised speech to the United Nations General Assembly, which meets this week in New York. She said last week that she would not be attending the gathering in person due to the crisis.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the BBC on Sunday that the address is Suu Kyi’s “last chance” to put an end to the violence.

“If she does not reverse the situation now, then I think the tragedy will be absolutely horrible, and unfortunately then I don’t see how this can be reversed in the future,” Guterres warned.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has called for targeted sanctions and an arms embargo on Myanmar’s military.

“Burmese security forces are committing ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya and disregarding the condemnation of world leaders,” said John Sifton, HRW’s Asia advocacy director. “The time has come to impose tougher measures that Burma’s generals cannot ignore.”

(Photo: Mohammad Ponir Hossain / Reuters)
(Photo: Mohammad Ponir Hossain / Reuters)

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An exhausted Rohingya refugee woman touches the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal, in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesd, on Sept. 11, 2017.
An exhausted Rohingya refugee woman touches the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal, in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesd, on Sept. 11, 2017.
Rohingya Muslim refugees disembark from a boat on the Bangladeshi side of Naf river in Teknaf on Sept. 13, 2017.
Rohingya Muslim refugees disembark from a boat on the Bangladeshi side of Naf river in Teknaf on Sept. 13, 2017.
Recently arrived Rohingya refugees wait to receive aid donations on Sept. 13, 2017, in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
Recently arrived Rohingya refugees wait to receive aid donations on Sept. 13, 2017, in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
Exhausted Rohingya refugees rest on the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh, on Sept. 10, 2017.
Exhausted Rohingya refugees rest on the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh, on Sept. 10, 2017.
Rohingya refugees reach out their hands to grab aid packages in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sept. 17, 2017.
Rohingya refugees reach out their hands to grab aid packages in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sept. 17, 2017.
Rokeya Begum, 23, holds her 4-day-old twins born in a makeshift tent on Sept. 17, 2017, in Kutupalong, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
Rokeya Begum, 23, holds her 4-day-old twins born in a makeshift tent on Sept. 17, 2017, in Kutupalong, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
Rohingyas are seen after arriving by boat on Sept. 14, 2017, in Shah Porir Dip, Bangladesh.
Rohingyas are seen after arriving by boat on Sept. 14, 2017, in Shah Porir Dip, Bangladesh.
Rohingya refugee children carry an old woman in a sling near the Balukhali makeshift refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sept. 13, 2017.
Rohingya refugee children carry an old woman in a sling near the Balukhali makeshift refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sept. 13, 2017.
This photograph taken on Sept. 12, 2017, shows Rohingya refugees arriving by boat at Shah Parir Dwip on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River after fleeing violence in Myanmar.
This photograph taken on Sept. 12, 2017, shows Rohingya refugees arriving by boat at Shah Parir Dwip on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River after fleeing violence in Myanmar.
A Rohingya Muslim woman gets off a boat after crossing over from Myanmar into the Bangladesh side of the border, in Shah Porir Dwip near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh on Sept. 13, 2017. Rohingya Muslims pay local fishers 36 U.S. dollars in order to cross to Shah Porir Dwip peninsula.
A Rohingya Muslim woman gets off a boat after crossing over from Myanmar into the Bangladesh side of the border, in Shah Porir Dwip near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh on Sept. 13, 2017. Rohingya Muslims pay local fishers 36 U.S. dollars in order to cross to Shah Porir Dwip peninsula.
A Rohingya refugee girl sits next to her mother who rests after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, in Teknaf, Bangladesh, on Sept. 6, 2017.
A Rohingya refugee girl sits next to her mother who rests after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, in Teknaf, Bangladesh, on Sept. 6, 2017.
A Rohingya refugee man pulls a child as they walk to the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh, on Sept. 10, 2017.
A Rohingya refugee man pulls a child as they walk to the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh, on Sept. 10, 2017.
Rohingya Muslim refugees build temporary makeshift shelters, after crossing the border from Myanmar, in the Bangladeshi town of Teknaf on Sept. 10, 2017.
Rohingya Muslim refugees build temporary makeshift shelters, after crossing the border from Myanmar, in the Bangladeshi town of Teknaf on Sept. 10, 2017.
Rohingya refugee people take part in Eid al-Adha prayer near the Kutupalang makeshift refugee camp, in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sept. 2, 2017.
Rohingya refugee people take part in Eid al-Adha prayer near the Kutupalang makeshift refugee camp, in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sept. 2, 2017.
Rohingya refugees climb up a hill after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sept. 8, 2017.
Rohingya refugees climb up a hill after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sept. 8, 2017.
A Rohingya refugee boy stands in a queue to receive relief supplies given by local people in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sept. 16, 2017.
A Rohingya refugee boy stands in a queue to receive relief supplies given by local people in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sept. 16, 2017.
A Rohingya refugee carries a child through a paddy field after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, in Teknaf, Bangladesh, on Sept. 6, 2017.
A Rohingya refugee carries a child through a paddy field after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, in Teknaf, Bangladesh, on Sept. 6, 2017.
A local man carries an old Rohingya refugee woman as she is unable to walk after crossing the border, in Teknaf, Bangladesh, on Sept. 1, 2017.
A local man carries an old Rohingya refugee woman as she is unable to walk after crossing the border, in Teknaf, Bangladesh, on Sept. 1, 2017.
A Rohingya refugee boy walks in the water after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Teknaf, Bangladesh, on Sept. 1, 2017.
A Rohingya refugee boy walks in the water after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Teknaf, Bangladesh, on Sept. 1, 2017.
Rohingya refugees stands in an open place during heavy rain, as they are held by Border Guard Bangladesh after illegally crossing the border, in Teknaf, Bangladesh, on Aug. 31, 2017.
Rohingya refugees stands in an open place during heavy rain, as they are held by Border Guard Bangladesh after illegally crossing the border, in Teknaf, Bangladesh, on Aug. 31, 2017.
Rohingya refugees stretch their hands to receive aid distributed by local organizations at Balukhali makeshift refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sept. 14, 2017.
Rohingya refugees stretch their hands to receive aid distributed by local organizations at Balukhali makeshift refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sept. 14, 2017.
Rohingya refugees walk on a muddy path at Thaingkhali makeshift refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sept. 14, 2017.
Rohingya refugees walk on a muddy path at Thaingkhali makeshift refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sept. 14, 2017.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.