Dhaka, Aug. 13 -- In the western reaches of Myanmar, the people of Rakhine State - both ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims - are staring down the barrel of famine.

Entire towns and villages are now cut off from the outside world by a military blockade that has brought the delivery of food, medicine and humanitarian assistance to a complete standstill.

These are not the chaotic conditions of war, where supply lines have simply broken down. This is a deliberate strategy - a calculated decision by the Myanmar junta to use starvation as a weapon against its own people, echoing the most chilling episodes of modern conflict.

Reports describe desperate civilians living off rice husks, wild plants and whatever scraps they can barter...