FIRST ROHINGYA FAMILY IS REPATRIATED

Myanmar has accepted what appears to be the first five among some 700,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled to neighbouring Bangladesh to escape military-led violence against the minority group, even though the United Nations says it’s not yet safe for them to return home.

A government statement said Saturday that five members of a family returned to western Rakhine state from the border area.

The statement said authorities determined whether they had lived in Myanmar and provided them with a national verification card.

The card is a form of ID, but does not mean citizenship — something Rohingya have been denied in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where they’ve faced persecution for decades.

The statement did not say if any more repatriations are being planned.

Hundreds of Rohingya were reportedly killed in the recent violence, and many houses and villages burned to the ground.