A father has released a devastating picture of his 16-month-old son lying dead in the mud to try and get the world to take notice of the Rohingya plight.

Mohammed Shohayet is a Rohingya refugee who was trying to flee Myanmar to get to Bangladesh with his family.

Mohammed’s body was found washed up in the mud after he and his family tried to cross the Naf River. Their boat sank in the ordeal.

His father, Zafor Alam, made it to Bangladesh ahead of his family.

He told CNN: "In our village, helicopters fired guns at us, and the Myanmar soldiers also opened fire on us. My grandfather and grandmother were burnt to death. Our whole village was burnt by the military. Nothing left."

The image has parallels with that of the young Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi, who was found dead on a Turkish beach in September 2015, after trying to flee the civil war at home.

Human rights groups said Myanmar's government is trying to cover up abuses against civilians in a Muslim-majority part of Rakhine State after an investigation panel dismissed claims a government crackdown there amounts to "genocide".

At least 86 people have died and an estimated 34,000 have fled across the border to Bangladesh.

Rohingya residents and refugees accuse security forces of summary executions, arbitrary arrest, rape and burning down homes as part of what the government has termed its "clearance operations" in search of attackers.

The picture of dead child Aylan Kurdi had jolted the world.