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dpa
Dhaka
Bangladesh has deployed army troops to scale up relief efforts for Rohingya Muslims who are sheltering in the country's south-eastern border after fleeing violence in Myanmar's restive Rakhine state, officials said Saturday.
The soldiers will assist the civil administration in distributing aid and in building shelters for the Rohingya living in Cox's Bazar district bordering Myanmar, spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Rashidul Hasan said.
He added that the troops will begin relief distribution from Sunday onward in order to streamline supply delivery.
Some 430,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar for Bangladesh since a military crackdown resulted in the destruction of entire villages in Rakhine State.
According to UN migration agency half of all the newly arrived refugees are still living in the open on the roadside or in the hill forests.
They have little access to aid including shelter, food, clean water and sanitation, International Organization for Migration said in a statement on Friday.
Additional police and paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh troops were also deployed at check points to prevent Rohingyas attempting to travel other parts of~Bangladesh.
