Myanmar says plight of Rohingya minority a media fabrication

Myanmar's President Thein Sein waits for delegates to arrive for the 17th ASEAN-China Summit during the 25th ASEAN Summit in Naypyitaw November 13, 2014. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar President Thein Sein has denied that minority Muslim Rohingya are fleeing "torture" in western Rakhine state, telling the Voice of America Burmese Service such media reports were fabrication.

According to the Arakan Project, which plots migration across the Bay of Bengal, about 100,000 Rohingya have left Rakhine since 2012. Violent clashes with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists that year killed hundreds and left 140,000 homeless, most of them Rohingya.