B’DESH SCRAPS PLAN TO SEND ROHINGYA BACK TO MYANMAR

The head of Bangladesh’s refugee commission said plans to begin a voluntary repatriation of Rohingya Muslim refugees to their native Myanmar on Thursday were scrapped after officials were unable to find anyone who wanted to return.

“The refugees are not willing to go back now,” Refugee Commissioner Abul Kalam said, adding that officials “can’t force them to go” but will continue to try to “motivate them so it happens”.

The announcement came after about 1,000 Rohingya demonstrated at a camp in Bangladesh against returning to Myanmar, from where hundreds of thousands fled army-led violence last year.

At the Unchiprang camp, one of the sprawling refugee settlements near the city of Cox’s Bazar, another Bangladeshi refugee official had implored the Rohingya to return to their country over a loudspeaker.

“We have arranged everything for you, we have six buses here, we have trucks, we have food. We want to offer everything to you. If you agree to go, we’ll take you to the border, to the transit camp,” he said.

“We won’t go,” hundreds of voices chanted in reply.

Bangladesh authorities had attempted to begin the repatriation of more than 700,000 Rohingya, despite calls from United Nations officials and human rights groups to hold off. According to a UN-brokered deal with Bangladesh and Myanmar, the Rohingya cannot be forced to repatriate.

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