Myanmar's military commander has said some "boat people" landing in Malaysia and Indonesia this month are likely pretending to be Rohingya Muslims to receive U.N. aid and that many had fled neighboring Bangladesh, state media reported on Friday.

The remarks are sure to spark concern after the United States lambasted Myanmar this week for failing to address the cause of the crisis, which observers say stems from Myanmar's refusal to recognize the Rohingya, an ethnic minority group living in western Myanmar, as citizens.

Most of Myanmar's 1.1 million Rohingya are stateless and live in apartheidlike conditions. Almost 140,000 were displaced in deadly clashes with Buddhists in the western state of Rakhine in 2012.