Myanmar ready to take back Rohingya refugees

DHAKA (AFP) - A Myanmar minister Monday proposed taking back hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who fled to Bangladesh after a military crackdown, Dhaka’s top diplomat said, as the UN described the scale of suffering inside Rakhine state as “unimaginable”.

Northern Rakhine has been torn apart by violence since August 25, when raids by Rohingya militants sparked a massive army crackdown that the UN says is tantamount to “ethnic cleansing”.

Myanmar has tightly controlled access to the state since then, as the army kickback in the Buddhist-dominated country sent half a million Rohingyas fleeing to Bangladesh.

But United Nations representatives were given their first access to Rakhine since the trouble erupted, in a visit that came as Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.H Mahmood Ali held talks with Myanmar’s Minister of the Office of State Counselor Kyaw Tint Swe.

On a one-day visit organized by Myanmar authorities, UN officials, diplomats and aid groups were flown by helicopter to Maungdaw, epicenter of the violence.

The UN welcomed the trip but reiterated the need for greater humanitarian access.

“The scale of the human suffering is unimaginable and the UN sends its deepest condolences to all those affected,” it said, calling for an end to the “cycle of violence”.

It also urged a “safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of refugees to their area of origin”.

Refugees in Bangladesh are packed into overcrowded UN and makeshift camps along the Myanmar border at increasing risk of disease.