Refugees to stay in temp shelters

DHAKA: Rohingya refugees who return to Myanmar from Bangladesh following a repatriation agreement will initially live in temporary shelters or camps, Dhaka said on Saturday, a day after the UN raised concern for their safety when they go back.

The UN says more than 620,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since August and now live in the world’s largest refugee camp after a military crackdown in Myanmar that the UN and Washington have said clearly constitutes “ethnic cleansing”.

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a repatriation agreement on Thursday which would pave the way for the return of the refugees at the “earliest” opportunity, according to the deal.

“Primarily they will be kept at temporary shelters or arrangements for a limited time,” Bangladesh foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali told reporters.

Under the deal, Yangon will “encourage those who left Myanmar to return voluntarily and safely to their own households” in Rakhine State or “to a safe and secure place nearest to it”.

However most of the Rohingya villages were burnt during the violence, Ali said, and refugees would have no choice but to live in temporary shelters there.

“There are no houses. Where they will live? It is not possible to physically (return to their own homes),” he said.