Returning minority to 'conditions amounting to
concentration camps' is 'unthinkable', say activists
By @HarrietAgerholm (INDEPENDENT)
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| Rohingya refugees walk towards a refugee camp after crossing the border in Anjuman Para near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh Reuter |
A deal struck between Bangladesh
and Burma to repatriate Rohingya
refugees who fled a campaign of violence has been condemned as “dangerous” and
“premature” by activists. https://lnkd.in/gVBnRWG
Amnesty International said returning the Rohingya to
Burma was “unthinkable” while a system of “apartheid” remains in place there.
Many of the ethnic minority Muslims who still reside in
the country “are held there in conditions that amount to concentration camps”,
the rights organisation warned.
At least 620,000 Rohingya from Burma’s Rakhine State have
fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, seeking refuge from what Burma’s military has
called “clearance operations”.
The crisis started in August, when Rohingya insurgents
attacked Burmese security forces, triggering a brutal crackdown in which
soldiers and Buddhist vigilante groups killed men, raped women and girls and
burned homes to force the Rohingya to leave.
The Burma-Bangladesh agreement comes after the US on
Wednesday described the ongoing violence against the Muslim minority as “ethnic
cleansing” and threatened penalties for military officials.
Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International UK, told
The Independent: “Returning the Rohingya to Burma while a system of apartheid
exists is not only dangerous, but extremely premature.
“Hundreds of thousands of people have fled for their
lives amid a brutal crackdown by the Myanmar military, and in many cases have
no homes to return to as whole villages have been burned to the ground.”
Not one Rohingya refugee should return to the country
before the military ends its “campaign of ethnic cleansing”, she said.
“If any progress is to be made, the Rohingya must be
guaranteed citizenship, have their land returned and be given the right not to
live in fear of persecution,” she added.
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| Rohingya Muslims who have fled to Bangladesh on makeshift rafts have accused the Burmese military of murder and rape AP Images |
Don’t miss to read, UK has received 'very troubling' evidence that
might suggest 'genocide' has been committed:
https://lnkd.in/g8XW7_u
Rohingya Muslims have faced state-sponsored
discrimination in the Buddhist country for decades. Despite members of the
ethnic minority arriving in the country generations ago, the Rohingya were
stripped of their citizenship in 1982, denying them almost all rights and
rendering them stateless. They cannot travel freely, practice their religion,
or become professionals. They also have little access to medical care, food or
education.
The Burmese government does not recognise the minority
and a statement issued on Thursday by Aung San Suu Kyi’s office did not use the
term “Rohingya“.
“There can be no safe or dignified returns of Rohingya to
Myanmar while a system of apartheid remains in the country, and thousands are
held there in conditions that amount to concentration camps. Returns in the
current climate are simply unthinkable,” Amnesty International’s director for
refugee and migrant rights, Charmain Mohamed said.
Mr Mohamed pointed to Burma and Bangladesh’s obligations
under international law, saying it would be illegal to return the refugees to a
situation where their human rights are at risk.
He added: “The fact the United Nations and the
international community have been completely sidelined from this process does
not bode well for ensuring a robust voluntary repatriation agreement that meets
international standards.
“At a minimum, Rohingya should be able to continue to
seek asylum in Bangladesh, while those who do not want to go home must not be
forced to.”