HUMAN rights group the Arakan Project warned yesterday that violence and discriminatory government policies had set an estimated 100,000 Rohingya fleeing Myanmar in the last two years.

Project director Chris Lewa said the group, which monitors the Rohingya, had seen the pace of the exodus accelerating, with more than 15,000 people leaving since October 15.

Ms Lewa said troops in northern Rakhine state were engaging in a “campaign to create fear and to get them to leave.”

She said that in the last six weeks, at least four Rohingya men had been tortured to death.

Security forces broke one victim’s leg and burned his penis during interrogation and the beaten body of another Rohingya was found in a river, she said.

Ms Lewa said that more than 140 people have been arrested on what appeared to be trumped-up charges, ranging from immigration violations to alleged links with Islamic militants.