Presidential spokesperson U Zaw Htay claims
that NGOs are deliberately discouraging refugees from returning. “They want to
be there indefinitely”. NGO officials in Cox’s Bazar dismiss the charges,
saying that Rohingya want “to return to Myanmar, but with honour.”
Naypyidaw (AsiaNews) – The refugee crisis on
the Myanmar-Bangladesh border is a huge money-making business for international
nongovernmental organisations (INGOs) that are providing assistance to over
700,000 Muslims who fled violence in northern Rakhine State last year, said U
Zaw Htay, a spokesperson for the President’s Office, at a press conference in
Naypyidaw, three days ago.
The first 2,260 Rohingya refugees were supposed to be repatriated
on 15 November from Bangladesh to Myanmar which they fled in 2016 and 2017.
However, no one has
expressed a desire to return.
Read more: https://lnkd.in/gUqEEKj
Read more: https://lnkd.in/gwqZ24Z
Although Myanmar has said that it was ready to welcome the returning
refugees,
Bangladesh decided to put off the repatriation until the end of the month.
Previously, the UNHRC and humanitarian organisations on the ground expressed doubts
about the whole process.
Read more: https://lnkd.in/gduRP-z
For U Zaw Htay, INGOs are deliberately
discouraging refugees in Bangladesh from returning to Myanmar due to their own
business interests rather than security considerations.
INGOs Discourage Repatriation for their Own Interests: Gov’t Spokesperson: https://lnkd.in/gqsdCVq
INGOs Discourage Repatriation for their Own Interests: Gov’t Spokesperson: https://lnkd.in/gqsdCVq
“There are a lot of food imports and
supplies,” he said. “There is a big market there. INGOs do not want [refugees]
to go back to Myanmar so that they can implement projects for a long time –
health care, children, women, and so on.”
The presidential spokesperson claims that refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar,
Bangladesh, are a huge market for INGOs providing food and clothing to
refugees. “They want to be there indefinitely, so they can do a lot of business
there.”
Read: https://lnkd.in/gduRP-z
AsiaNews spoke to NGOs officials in Cox's
Bazar. Chandan Z. Gomes, a Catholic and director of World Vision Bangladesh,
rejects U Zaw Htay's accusations.
"The NGOs and the Bangladeshi government
want the Rohingya to return to Myanmar, but with honour,” he explained.
“Refugees will only return when Myanmar can guarantee their safety, dignity and
well-being."
Likewise, Moqbul Ahmed, a Muslim and a
district team leader for the Coastal Association for Social Transformation
(COAST), noted that “We never discourage refugees from returning to their
homeland, but there is no favourable situation in Myanmar. They are the ones
who do not want to go back. In any event, refugees cannot be forced back. We
must follow the rules.”
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