THE head of Bangladesh’s refugee commission has said plans to start the repatriation of 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar 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 yesterday, adding that officials “can’t force them to go”.
READ MORE: UN push for safety of returning Rohingya in Burma
The announcement came after about 1000 Rohingya demonstrated 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 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, including children’s, chanted in reply.
Bangladesh authorities had attempted to begin the repatriation of the 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.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here