Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi has a “last chance” to halt the Rohingya crisis which the United Nations has described as “ethnic cleansing”, the organisation’s Secretary-General has said. Antonio Guterres said Ms Suu Kyi, still has the “opportunity” to “make sure the carnage stops”.

“I would expect that the leader of the country would be able to contain it, and would be able to reverse the situation,” Mr Guterres said in a BBC interview. “She has a chance, she has a last chance, in my opinion, to do so.”

Otherwise, he said, “the tragedy will be absolutely horrible.”

Ms Suu Kyi a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, is facing growing pressure over Burma’s military crackdown on the ethnic group, which has seen hundreds of thousands of Rohingya flee the country.

In an address to the nation on Tuesday, Ms Suu Kyi is expected to speak about the situation, her spokesperson said.

She is not attending the UN General Assembly, taking place at the moment, and is staying in Burma to try and “control the security situation”, a government official said.

An estimated 410,000 members of the Rohingya Muslim minority have fled from western Rakhine state to Bangladesh to escape a military offensive that the United Nations has branded a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

Those fleeing the country have been photographed climbing over barbed wire border fences to escape, and reports have emerged of landmines being placed at border areas to prevent the Rohingya from returning.

In Bangladesh, aid agencies are worried they don’t have the capacity to deal with the huge influx of refugees, most of whom are arriving hungry and without clothes or supplies.

Last week, two women and a child were killed in a stampede for aid at a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, and another three people were killed on Friday amid a stampede at in the city’s Balukhali Pan Bazar area as aid supplies were being thrown from lorries.

“Many people are arriving hungry, exhausted and with no food or water,” Mark Pierce, Bangladesh country director for the Save the Children aid agency said in a statement.

“I’m particularly worried that the demand for food, shelter, water and basic hygiene support is not being met due to the sheer number of people in need. If families can’t meet their basic needs, the suffering will get even worse and lives could be lost.”

Rohingya refugees – in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Rohingya refugees – in pictures Rohingya refugees – in pictures A young girl and a baby wade through mud after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh from Burma on 10 September Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees – in pictures Rohingya refugees walk through a camp in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh after arriving from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees – in pictures A young Rohingya refugee gathers firewood after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees – in pictures Rohingya refugees wait for sacks of rice to be distributed in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees – in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees arrive on a boat in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh after crossing from Burma on 8 September Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees – in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees react after being re-united with each other after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh on a boat from Burma Getty Rohingya refugees – in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees walk along the remains of a road after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh on a boat from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees – in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees wade through water after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh by boat from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees – in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees wade through water after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh by boat from Myanmar Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees – in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees stand in the rain after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh by boat from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees – in pictures Indian children hold placards and shout slogans during a protest against the alleged persecution of the Rohingya Muslims in Burma EPA/Raminder Pal Singh Rohingya refugees – in pictures Supporters of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC), an Islamic organisation, listen to their leaders' speeches against Burma's persecution of Rohingya Muslims, during a demonstration in Karachi Reuters/Akhtar Soomro Rohingya refugees – in pictures Hundreds of Iranians take part in a protest against violence in Myanmar after weekly Friday prayers, in Tehran EPA/Abedin Taherkenareh Rohingya refugees – in pictures Indonesian Muslim activists hold placards and shout slogans during a protest against the alleged persecution of the Rohingya minority in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia EPA/Ali Lutfi Rohingya refugees – in pictures Members of an Islamic organisation shout slogans against the Burma government during a protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh EPA

Bangladesh has for decades faced influxes of Rohingya fleeing persecution in Buddhist-majority Burma, where the Rohingya people are regarded as illegal migrants.

The country was already home to 400,000 Rohingya people before the latest crisis erupted on 25 August, when Rohingya insurgents attacked police posts and an army camp, killing a dozen people.

Human rights monitors and fleeing Rohingya people say the Burmese security forces and Rakhine Buddhist vigilantes responded to the 25 August insurgent attacks with a campaign of violence and arson aimed at driving out the Muslim population.

But Ms Suu Kyi’s government has rejected the claims, saying its security forces are carrying out clearance operations against the insurgents of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which claimed responsibility for the August attacks and similar, smaller, raids in October.

The Burmese government has declared the ARSA a terrorist organisation and accused it of setting the fires and attacking civilians.