ROHINGYA STILL FLEEING
Uninterrupted flow into Bangladesh despite repatriation deal
COX’S BAZAR
ROHINGYA are still fleeing into Bangladesh even after an agreement was signed with Myanmar to repatriate hundreds of thousands of the Muslim minority displaced along the border, officials said yesterday.
The arrangement struck by the neighbours on Thursday raised the prospect of at least 700,000 Rohingya Muslims living in overcrowded camps in southeastern Bangladesh being returned to Myanmar.
At least 3,000 refugees had crossed since then, the United Nations said in its latest report on the crisis, with guards at checkpoints along the frontier also reporting a largely uninterrupted flow of newcomers.
“The number of arrivals has declined, but it has not stopped,” Bangladesh border guard commander Lieutenant Colonel S.M. Ariful Islam said.
He said at least 400 refugees had passed by guards under his command along the border with Myanmar since the agreement was signed.
Some 624,000 Rohingya have fled a military crackdown in Myanmar since August described by UN and United States authorities as ethnic cleansing.
The repatriation agreement applies to Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh who fled Myanmar in two major outbreaks of violence since October last year. It does not extend to an estimated 200,000 Rohingya refugees who were living in Bangladesh prior to that date.
The UN refugee agency UNHCR had raised concerns over the terms of the arrangement, saying conditions for the safe return of the Rohingya were not yet in place.
Bangladesh said at the weekend those returned would initially live in temporary shelters or camps. Rohingya leaders said they would not return to Myanmar unless they were recognised as citizens with full rights and ensured protection from violence.
The UNHCR said any repatriation deal must include “the informed consent of refugees”. AFP