Story highlights More than 615,000 Rohingya refugees have fled Myanmar in recent months

The country's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has come in for intense criticism

(CNN) The British government has said the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar "looks like ethnic cleansing," Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said Monday.

"We've been appalled by the inhumane violence that's taken place in Rakhine State. It's a major humanitarian crisis. It's been created by Burma's military and it looks like ethnic cleansing," the spokesman said, using the traditional name for the country.

"Burmese authorities need to stop the violence and ensure access into Rakhine State so that UK aid can provide a lifeline to those who are suffering there."

May's criticism comes after the UN called the situation in Myanmar a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing," and some observers have even accused the country's military of overseeing a genocide

British Prime Minister Theresa May (left) greets Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi in London on September 13, 2016.