Rohingya refugees say they would ‘rather die’ than be sent back to Burma, as repatriation plans are ‘stalled until 2019
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh said on Sunday that they
would “rather die” than go back to Burma under current conditions, as it was
revealed plans to repatriate them have been stalled until next year.
“We will not return without being given our rights as
citizens,” said Mohamad Saddiq Hossain, a local community leader in Kutupalong
extension camp, “we would rather die here than be taken back there.”
Mr Hossain’s feelings were shared by many of the camp’s
Rohingya residents, who have spent the past week fearing they could be forced
back to the country that more than 720,000 were forced to flee in 2017 after a
sweeping army crackdown in Rakhine state.
Last Tuesday Bangladesh’s government was due to send the
first batch of 2,200 refugees back to Burma from the south of Bangladesh, but
the process was stalled amid protests.
Many of those on the list repatriation approved by the
Burma government fled from their shelters and hide in other camps or in the
forest. None of them agreed to return if their demands for justice, citizenship
and the ability to go back to their original villages and lands were not met.
Abul Kalam, Bangladesh’s refugee relief and repatriation
Commissioner, told Reuters on Sunday that “a new course of action” needed to be
adopted on repatriation that took into account refugees’ demands.
“I don’t think anyone’s agreeing to go back without
these,” he said.
Rahin Ullah, a Rohingya refugee believed to be about 50
years old (he is unsure of his exact age) who fled Myanmar last August for the
third time, said he wanted to go home but would not do so until there was an
end to discrimination against his people.
“We are here just to save our lives for the sake of our
children,” he said. “[Burma] is my homeland, my father was born there, my
grandfather was born there and, as far as I know, his father before him.”
Highlighting the still volatile conditions in Burma, four
Rohingya were shot in a raid by immigration authorities on an internal
displacement camp outside the city of Sittwee on Sunday.
The 20 police officers who entered the camp were looking
for men accused of people smuggling after a boat was stopped off the coast on
Saturday with 106 Rohingya on board, believed to be on their way to Malaysia.
With Bangladesh set to go to the polls on Dec. 30, any
decision either to repatriate people, or relocate refugees from the crowded
camps to Bangladesh’s Bhasan Char island will not proceed until 2019, Mr Kalam
said.
Bangladesh has vowed not to force anyone to return. But
the Rohingya’s presence has become particularly contentious ahead of the
elections. Many Bangladeshis feel their small, overpopulated country should not
be bearing the burden of an extra million people in one of its poorest regions.
Source: AT