Myanmar has acknowledged that more than 80 people have been killed and whole villages and parts of towns burnt down in ethnic fighting between Buddhists and Muslims in the western state of Rakhine.
Human Rights Watch issued satellite pictures of a coastal town which it said show an entire neighbourhood inhabited largely by Muslim Rohingyas had been destroyed.
Thousands fled by boat and officials say many were trapped on an island near the state capital Sittwe.
A spokesperson for President Thein Sein says security in Rakhine State is being increased.
