"Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced in recent days due to fighting in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships," Elizabeth Throssell, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told reporters in Geneva. "An estimated 45,000 Rohingya are believed to have fled to an area near the Naf River close to the Bangladesh border, seeking safety," she added. Clashes have wracked Rakhine state since the rebel Arakan Army (AA) attacked junta troops in November, shattering a ceasefire that had largely held since a military coup in 2021. The rebels say they are fighting for greater autonomy for ethnic Rakhine people in the state, which is also home to some 600,000 Rohingya Muslims. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Rakhine state in 2017 after a military crackdown that UN investigators later said amounted to genocide. "Over a million Rohingya are already in Bangladesh, having fled previous waves of violence," Throssell said. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has called on Bangladesh and other countries "to provide effective protection to those seeking it, in line with international law, and for international solidarity with Bangladesh in hosting Rohingya refugees from Myanmar," Throssell said. The spokesperson warned of "a clear and present risk of a significant escalation of violence" in Rakhine, highlighting fighting around the town of Maungdaw, where the military has a major base and where a large Rohingya community lives. "In this horrific situation, civilians are once again bearing the brunt of the suffering, being killed and injured, seeing their homes destroyed and looted, their pleas for safety ignored, and forced to flee their homes in a recurring nightmare of displacement," Throssell said. Also Read: US fears new atrocities against Rohingya in Myanmar