The UN Security Council is to meet to discuss the violence in Myanmar that has sent more than 300,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh.
Britain and Sweden requested the urgent meeting amid growing international concern over the ongoing violence in Rakhine state.
"It's a sign of the significant worry that Security Council members have about the situation that is continuing to deteriorate for the many Rohingyas who are seeking to flee Rakhine state," British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told reporters.
Yesterday, UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein accused Myanmar of waging a "systematic attack" on the Rohingya and warned that "ethnic cleansing" seemed to be under way.
The White House said the violent displacement of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar showed the country's security forces were not protecting civilians.
"We call on Burmese security authorities to respect the rule of law, stop the violence, and end the displacement of civilians from all communities," the White House said in a statement.
The Security Council met behind closed doors in late August to discuss the violence, but issued no formal statement.
UN diplomats have said China has been resisting involvement by the top UN council in addressing the crisis.
Myanmar's de facto leader, Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has faced strong international criticism over the military crackdown on the Muslim minority, which began when Rohingya militants ambushed security forces in Rakhine State on 25 August.
Fellow Nobel laureates the Dalai Lama, Malala Yousafzai and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu have urged Suu Kyi to distance herself from the military and speak out on the violence.
The UN refugee agency says at least 313,000 Rohingya have now arrived in Bangladesh from Rakhine State since 25 August, about a third of the total population of 1.1 million.
