Rohingya rejection ruins Bangladesh repatriation effort

COX’S BAZAR (AFP) — Frightened and angry Rohingya refugees yesterday forced Bangladesh to call off efforts to start sending back some of the hundreds of thousands of the stateless Muslims to Myanmar, casting fresh doubt on a disputed repatriation program.

Hundreds staged a demonstration near the Myanmar border shouting “We will not go!” on the day the first batch were due to be sent back.

More than 720,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar’s Rakhine state into Bangladesh after a military crackdown in August 2017 that the United Nations has said calls for a genocide investigation.

Many brought horrific tales of murder, rape and razed villages and vowed never to return.

Not one of the first 150 Rohingya meant to cross back yesterday under an accord with Myanmar turned up nor wanted to return, acknowledged Bangladesh authorities, under pressure from the UN and aid groups.

Community leaders said many on a Bangladesh repatriation list of 2,260 people had gone into hiding.

Bangladesh’s refugee commissioner went to a border transit point for the scheduled handover, but no Rohingya was present to be put on a bus across the river that marks the frontier.