The United Nation's human rights chief said on Wednesday that he suspects Myanmar's Rohingya minority have been subjected to "acts of genocide" in Rakhine state since last August.
Speaking in Geneva, High Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said he was "unsurprised" by reports that many Rohingya villages that had previously come under attack are now being bulldozed.
Al-Hussein said some of the villages were allegedly the site of mass graves.
"This appears to be a deliberate attempt by the authorities to destroy potential evidence of international crimes," he said.
The UN human rights office also believes ethnic cleansing to still be occurring in Rakhine state, with reports of security forces and local militias using "starvation, killings, rape, torture and abductions" as means for driving out Rohingya from various towns and villages.
Al-Hussein added that the government in Naypyidaw must be held accountable for such occurrences and protect the human rights of the Rohingya.
He called on the UN General Assembly to set up an independent mechanism to prosecute those responsible for any violations.
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