The U.N. Security Council met behind closed doors to discuss the violence that has forced more than 370,000 to flee Myanmar for Bangladesh.

CGTN’s Liling Tan has more from New York.

The UNSeC is underscoring its growing concern over the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, from where more than 18,000 refugees a day are fleeing into Bangladesh.

Secretary General Antonio Guterres had requested the council address the deepening crisis.

“Grievances that have been left to fester for decades, have now escalated beyond Myanmar’s borders, destabilizing the region. The humanitarian situation is catastrophic. When we met last week, there were 125,000 Rohingya refugees who had fled into Bangladesh. That number has now tripled to nearly 380,000,” Guterres said.

Long festering tensions between Myanmar’s Buddhist majority and ethnic Rohingya Muslims escalated in late August, when an attack by Rohingya insurgents was met with a government security crackdown that rights observers say was disproportionate.

Aid workers say refugees arriving in Bangladesh accused security forces of shooting indiscriminately at them and burning their homes.

UN Human rights chief Ra’ad Al Hussein likened the situation to “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”