The situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine state still is not conducive to the return of Rohingya refugees sheltering in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh officials said the conditions in Rakhine’s capital Sittwe and in Maungdaw and Buthidaung – from where most of the Rohingya Muslims fled following violence – raised questions over safety, security and employment opportunities for the refugees if they opted to return home.
“I would say the situation for a sustainable return of the Rohingya is yet to be created,” Habibul Kabir Chowdhury, chief of a Ministry of Disaster Management unit that handles Rohingya-related matters, told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
On the other hand, Human Right Watch said Myanmar authorities have tortured and imprisoned Rohingya refugees who returned to Rakhine State from Bangladesh.
The mistreatment reinforces the need for international protection, including United Nations monitors on the ground, before Rohingya will be able to return safely to Myanmar.
Six Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh in 2017 to escape the Myanmar army’s ethnic cleansing campaign told Human Rights Watch that Border Guard Police (BGP) apprehended them at different times when they returned to Rakhine State to earn money before going back to Bangladesh. Security forces tortured them during pretrial detention, they said.
Sources: rfa.org, hrw.org