Bangladesh Considering Relocating the Rohingya Refugees

New Delhi, June 21, 2019:

The Bangladeshi official on Thursday said that things were still too volatile for a safe return for the Rohingya Muslim refugees in camps in Bangladesh who wanted to go back to their homes in Myanmar.

According to U.N agency reports, over 700,000 Rohingya crossed into Bangladesh in 2017. They migrated into the country after a crackdown by Myanmar’s military sparked by Rohingya insurgent attacks on the security forces. Several hundred Rohingya refugees rallied at the Kutupalong camp, near the southeast Bangladeshi city of Cox’s Bazar, on Thursday to mark World Refugee Day.

“No more refugee life, we want to return to our homeland,” the refugees expressed.

Also Read: 2.5 lakh Rohingya nationals given ID cards in Bangladesh: UN

Some of the refugees also held up placards quoting: “We want a life of freedom, peace, and dignity.”

As per the Myanmar authorities, Rohingya Muslims are regarded as illegal migrants from the Indian subcontinent. The U.N. investigators have said the 2017 Myanmar military operation that drove more the Rohingya into Bangladesh was executed with “genocidal intent” and included mass killings, gang rapes and widespread arson.

Whereas, Buddhist Myanmar denies widespread wrongdoing and says the military campaign across hundreds of villages in the north of Rakhine State was in response to the attacks by Rohingya insurgents.

In the previous year, Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed to send home the refugees but the plan has been opposed by many of the refugees, who want Myanmar to agree to certain conditions first.

The U.N. refugee agency and aid groups are also doubtful about the plan as they fear for the safety of Rohingya in Myanmar.

Reportedly, Bangladesh’s refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, Abul Kalam informed that the situation is volatile Myanmar due to fighting between the army and insurgent groups.

“But we’re still trying to begin repatriation as soon as possible,” he mentioned.

With the plan of sending these refugees home largely stalled, Bangladesh has been considering relocating the Rohingya refugees to an island in the Bay of Bengal. But some have expressed that this may bring out a new crisis given the island is vulnerable to cyclones.