Prominent leaders of Myanmar’s (formerly Burma) Buddhist and Muslim communities called for peace between the two religious factions that have been involved in deadly clashes since last year, killing nearly two hundred and displacing 140,000, according to rfa.org. Reports that a Buddhist woman had been assaulted by a Muslim man last month triggered a fresh outbreak of violence, resulting in 50 houses burned down and over 300 people left homeless. While reformist President Thein Sein has called on religious leaders to help quell the violence, the tens of thousands displaced by the clashes are being housed in modular housing China has shipped to Rakhine state, where some 800,000 Muslims live, many of them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. MHProNews has learned while some of the houses will be used for schools and clinics, the state will use others as emergency housing for areas that are often hit by natural disasters.
