UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has urgently called on countries across the region to offer refuge and protection to all those fleeing for safety from Myanmar.
"It is vital that anyone crossing the border, seeking asylum in another country, is able to access it," said Gillian Triggs, UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Protection.
Myanmar is bordered by Bangladesh and India to its northwest, China to its northeast, Laos and Thailand to its east and southeast, and the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal to its south and southwest.
UNHCR is "appalled by the escalating violence" in Myanmar and the resulting human suffering and displacement this is causing.
"We are shocked by the indiscriminate violence against civilians across the country, in addition to the renewed fighting between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups in some border areas," Gillian Triggs said.
These events in Myanmar are driving people to flee within the country and across borders, said the UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Protection.
Gillian Triggs said it is a proven fact that humane border practices can be upheld amid public health and other border control measures, to ensure that people in need of protection can access territory and asylum.
"Children, women and men fleeing for their lives should be given sanctuary. They must not be returned to a place where their lives or freedom may be at risk. This principle of non-refoulement is a cornerstone of international law and is binding on all states," said the UNHCR official.
Gillian Triggs said Myanmar's neighbours have a decades-long history of providing protection and assistance to refugees. "As the situation in Myanmar deteriorates further, we call on states to continue their lifesaving humanitarian tradition of safeguarding the lives of all those forced to flee."
Across the region, UNHCR and partner organisations stand ready to step-up support to national and local authorities to ensure that refugees receive the protection they need, said the UNHCR official.
