Myanmar’s national airline will halve ticket prices for workers who want to return from Malaysia where they face growing violence, it said today.

Myanmar Airlines International’s marketing manager Aye Mra Thar said the discount will run from June 12 to July 12, and be available only to citizens working in Malaysia.

Clashes between overseas Myanmar Buddhist and Rohingya communities resulted in up to six deaths last week and hundreds of arrests, according to sources in Malaysia.

The sectarian fighting has spread from Rakhine state in western Myanmar, where violence between Buddhist and Rohingya-Muslim communities claimed up to 200 lives last year and displaced some 125,000 people.

There are an estimated 500,000 Myanmar labourers in Malaysia, of whom some 30,000 are Rohingya.

Myanmar charities are also gearing up to help the workers in Malaysia.

The Aywyawady Foundation plans to provide free air tickets for 1,000 workers to return home, chairperson Zaw Zaw said.

Aung Ko Win, chairperson of Kanbawza Bank, said he also would donate money to cover the funeral services of the slain Myanmar labourers in Malaysia.

- dpa