Tensions high as Rohingya fear looming return to Mynamar
COX’S BAZAR AFP NOV14, 2018 - The military’s presence at vast Rohingya camps in Bangladesh has been bolstered, stoking fears among refugees as authorities prepare to return them to Myanmar despite strong UN objections, leaders of the Muslim minority said Wednesday.
Bangladesh says it will start repatriating refugees from an initial group of 2,260 from Thursday despite warnings the Rohingya face almost certain persecution in Myanmar.
Many of the million refugees in the teeming camps have expressed terror at the prospect of returning to Buddhist majority Myanmar, where UN investigators say they were targeted in a military campaign that amounted to genocide.
Bangladesh says only those who volunteer will be returned, but the UN rights chief says many refugees are panicking at the prospect of being sent back against their will.
Some families listed to return have fled, community leaders and refugees have told AFP, hiding in the hills where more than 720,000 Rohingya sought refuge from a Myanmar military crackdown launched from August last year.