UK Daily News
Jason MooreMarch 22, 2023
Jason MooreMarch 22, 2023
A Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh, June 2018. WONG MAYE-E / AP PHOTO
Burma has said it is ready for the return, from mid-April, of a thousand Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh under a pilot repatriation programme, a spokesman for the ruling junta said. Zaw Min Tun, Wednesday, March 22. “We will welcome the returning population in accordance with the agreement between the two countries”he said, adding that the first repatriation would concern “about a thousand people”.
After the visit of a Burmese delegation to the camps in Bangladesh, Rohingya refugees, for their part, expressed doubts about the possibility of this repatriation. Arriving a week ago, the 17-member delegation, led by a senior official from Burma’s immigration ministry, met 480 Rohingya refugees in the camps, which host nearly a million.
When the delegation arrived, Bangladeshi officials said they hoped to see the repatriation of the refugees begin soon, more than five years after their exodus. Some 750,000 Burmese Rohingya fled a crackdown by the Burmese army at the time, now under investigation for “acts of genocide” before the International Court of Justice.
Letter from Asia: Article reserved for our subscribers The endless wandering of the Rohingya in Bangladesh, from one prison camp to another
Also read: In Bangladesh, 12,000 Rohingya refugees left homeless after camp fire
The “imaginary” Rohingya identity, according to the Burmese junta
Bangladesh and Burma signed an agreement for the repatriation of refugees in 2017. But the Covid-19 pandemic and then the military coup in Burma in early 2021 kept the Rohingya in these unsanitary camps, where they are not allowed to work and depend almost entirely on meager food aid to survive.
The UN has facilitated the transport of some Burmese officials of the delegation and China is playing a mediating role. Chinese Ambassador to Dhaka Yao Wen said last week a repatriation would begin ” very soon “. But several Rohingya refugees said none of their requests for safety in Burma or recognition of their citizenship had been answered.
“They mistreated us there. I asked if now we could live a normal life there but then they [la délégation] interrupted me”explained Shamsun Nahar, a 40-year-old Rohingya, to Agence France-Presse. “They didn’t want any more questions. I don’t think they will make us come back to Burma. If they do, they won’t give us any rights. »
The Rohingya, settled in Burma for generations, are still considered intruders in the country of which they do not have the nationality, nor the same rights as the other inhabitants. Burmese junta leader and author of the 2021 coup, Min Aung Hlaing, who led the armed forces during the 2017 crackdown, called Rohingya identity a“imaginary”. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reiterated on Sunday that conditions were not conducive to “a safe and lasting return” of the Rohingyas.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers ICC prosecutor calls for investigation into crimes against Rohingya
The World with AFP
Source
When the delegation arrived, Bangladeshi officials said they hoped to see the repatriation of the refugees begin soon, more than five years after their exodus. Some 750,000 Burmese Rohingya fled a crackdown by the Burmese army at the time, now under investigation for “acts of genocide” before the International Court of Justice.
Letter from Asia: Article reserved for our subscribers The endless wandering of the Rohingya in Bangladesh, from one prison camp to another
Also read: In Bangladesh, 12,000 Rohingya refugees left homeless after camp fire
The “imaginary” Rohingya identity, according to the Burmese junta
Bangladesh and Burma signed an agreement for the repatriation of refugees in 2017. But the Covid-19 pandemic and then the military coup in Burma in early 2021 kept the Rohingya in these unsanitary camps, where they are not allowed to work and depend almost entirely on meager food aid to survive.
The UN has facilitated the transport of some Burmese officials of the delegation and China is playing a mediating role. Chinese Ambassador to Dhaka Yao Wen said last week a repatriation would begin ” very soon “. But several Rohingya refugees said none of their requests for safety in Burma or recognition of their citizenship had been answered.
“They mistreated us there. I asked if now we could live a normal life there but then they [la délégation] interrupted me”explained Shamsun Nahar, a 40-year-old Rohingya, to Agence France-Presse. “They didn’t want any more questions. I don’t think they will make us come back to Burma. If they do, they won’t give us any rights. »
The Rohingya, settled in Burma for generations, are still considered intruders in the country of which they do not have the nationality, nor the same rights as the other inhabitants. Burmese junta leader and author of the 2021 coup, Min Aung Hlaing, who led the armed forces during the 2017 crackdown, called Rohingya identity a“imaginary”. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reiterated on Sunday that conditions were not conducive to “a safe and lasting return” of the Rohingyas.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers ICC prosecutor calls for investigation into crimes against Rohingya
The World with AFP
Source
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