World Bulletin / News Desk

The testimony of Rohingya Muslims who fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh has been described as "absolutely horrendous" and "shocking" by a top UN investigator.

Linnea Arvidsson, leader of a four-member team of UN human rights investigators, said late on Tuesday the violence against Rohingya Muslims was being committed in the name of the state.

Her remarks followed the release of a UN report last Friday based on interviews with victims across the border in Bangladesh.

According to that research, out of 204 people individually interviewed by a team of UN investigators, the vast majority reported witnessing killings. Almost half reported having a family member killed or who went missing.

Of 101 women interviewed, more than half reported having suffered rape or other forms of sexual violence, the report read.

"Everyone had experienced some kind of violence," Arvidsson said. "Either their house was burned, or a family member had been killed or disappeared, or they had personally been beaten,” she added.

Describing some of the human rights violations as being of “absolutely the most serious kind,” Arvidsson said what she heard in personal interviews with victims was "horrendous" and "shocking”.