By AFP
Hundreds of Rohingya living in no man's land have left
their makeshift camp and crossed into Bangladesh after soldiers from Myanmar
used loudhailers to threaten them, community leaders said Wednesday.
Around 6,000 Rohingya have been living on a thin strip of
land between the two countries since fleeing Myanmar in the wake of a brutal
military crackdown on the Muslim minority in late August.
They were among the first to flee Myanmar when the
violence erupted last year and set up shelters in no man's land in the weeks
before Bangladesh agreed to let the Rohingya into the country.
In recent weeks they have come under pressure from
Myanmar soldiers, who have stepped up patrols along the barbed-wire border
fence just yards from the camp and broadcast messages using loudhailers
ordering the Rohingya to leave.
Community leader Dil Mohammad said the messages had
spread panic through the camp.
"We can't now sleep peacefully. Most of the Rohingya
in the camps now want to flee and take shelter in Bangladesh," Mohammad
said.
"Around 150 families have already left the camp for
Bangladesh as they were afraid they might be forcefully sent back to
Rakhine," he told AFP, referring to the area of Myanmar where the Rohingya
used to live.
- Threatened with prosecution -
One Border Guard Bangladesh official said the Myanmar
soldiers were playing the announcement at least 10 to 15 times a day.
In it they urge the Rohingya to leave, saying the land
they are on is under Myanmar's jurisdiction and threatening them with
prosecution if they remain.
Last week Bangladesh and Myanmar officials visited the
camp and urged the refugees to return to Rakhine.
But community leaders have said they will not go back
unless their demands for citizenship and security guarantees are met.
Myanmar views the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from
Bangladesh and has long denied them citizenship and basic rights.
Nearly 700,000 have fled since the military backed by
Buddhist mobs launched a brutal crackdown in the wake of attacks by Rohingya
militants on police posts.
Doctors without Borders has said 6,700 Rohingya were
killed in the first month of the violence alone, in a campaign the United
Nations has called ethnic cleansing.
Most of the refugees are now living in camps in
Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh government has signed an agreement with
Myanmar to repatriate them, but the refugees themselves say they do not want to
return.
Bangladesh was supposed to start the repatriation process
last month but it has been delayed amid concerns over a lack of preparation.
Myanmar forces have also erected a kilometres-long
barbed-wire fence along the border in recent weeks and installed multiple
outposts with armed guards and loudspeakers, the refugees said.
"Unfortunately we have no presence in the so-called
no man's land. We know that refugees continue to arrive in Bangladesh on a
daily basis and we are assisting all new arrivals regardless of where they came
from," said Vivian Tan, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency.
"UNHCR maintains that those who have fled human
rights violations, persecution and violence have the right to seek asylum and
must be guaranteed safety and protection."