It’s a trap, says Rohingya refugees

Few willing to return to Myanmar, fearing a repeat of the terror they had endured.

COX’S BAZAR ( Bangladesh): Disease, hunger and misery stalk the Rohingya living in Bangladesh’s refugee camps but despite the grinding hardship, few are willing to consider the alternative – returning home under a deal struck with Myanmar.

The arrangement signed by Myanmar and Bangladesh last month to start repatriating refugees within two months is viewed with deep suspicion and dread by Rohingya still traumatised by the violent expulsion from their homeland.

“They make deals, but they won’t follow them,” said Rohingya refugee Mohammad Syed, who estimated his age at 33.

“When we go back, they will torture and kill us.”

Their fear is not misplaced. Doctors Without Borders said on Thursday that at least 6,700 Rohin gya were killed in the first month of a Myanmar army crackdown on rebels in Rakhine state that began in August.

The worst bouts of violence have subsided but Rohingya continue to flee, the UN says.

The UN rights chief had said the catalogue of abuses – including indiscriminate killings, mass rape and the razing of hundreds of Rohingya villages – contained “elements of genocide”.

Myanmar has consistently denied committing atrocities in Rakhine, saying the crackdown was a proportionate response to the Rohingya militants who attacked police posts on Aug 25, killing around a dozen officials.

But rights groups say the conditions are not in place to ensure safe, voluntary and dignified returns, and Rohingya sense danger lurking behind Myanmar’s assurances.

“It’s a trap. They have given such assurances before, and still made our lives hell,” said Rohingya woman Dolu, who goes by one name, in a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar.

“I would rather live here. We get food and shelter here, and we can pray freely. We are allowed to live.”

The Rohingya have reason to be wary. The persecuted minority has been the target of past pogroms in Buddhistmajority Myanmar, which does not recognise the group as a genuine ethnicity and has stripped them of citizenship.

Aid groups have warned Myanmar they would boycott any new camps for returnees, saying refugees must be allowed to settle in their own homes and not forced into ghettolike conditions. — AFP

I would rather live here. We get food and shelter here, and we can pray freely. We are allowed to live. Dolu