The United Nations’ rights chief said it is now impossible to return Rohingya refugees due to concerns about their safety in Myanmar.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told the UN rights chief that hundreds of thousands Rohingya Refugees living in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh have to return home to Myanmar, where they have had to flee a wave of violent repression.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet arrived in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka on Sunday and visited Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar district near the border with Myanmar.
“The Rohingya are Myanmar nationals and they must be brought back,” Hasina was told by her press secretary, Ihsanul Karim, on Wednesday.
The predominantly Muslim Rohingya community has faced widespread discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where most are denied citizenship and many other rights.
More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar since August 2017, crossing the border into Bangladesh as Myanmar’s military conducts a “clearance operation” against them following attacks by a rebel group. The security situation in Myanmar has worsened after the army took over last year.
“Unfortunately, the current situation across the border means that the conditions are not suitable for profit making,” Bachelet told reporters in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.
“Repatriation should always be voluntary and dignified, only if safe and sustainable conditions exist in Myanmar.”
Nearly five years after the refugee crisis, Bangladesh has grown increasingly impatient with the huge influx of refugees, and Bachelet said she is concerned about the “increasingly anti-government rhetoric” Rohingya people” and making scapegoats for the community.
She added that many refugees fear for their safety due to the activities of armed groups and criminal gangs.
Security is a frequent issue in the camps, with murders, kidnappings and police raids targeting drug trafficking networks.
Two Rohingya community leaders were killed earlier this month, allegedly by an armed group operating in the camps accused of killing political opponents.
Al Jazeera of Tanvir Chowdhury, reporting from Dhaka, said Bangladesh was “questioning Myanmar’s role” in the return of Rohingya refugees.
“Some meetings are coming up with the governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar, but nothing really comes to fruition,” Chowdhury said.
Bangladesh says Myanmar has fulfilled its promise to begin the repatriation process, “while here [Bangladesh] The environment is becoming increasingly hostile towards Rohingya refugees,” Chowdhury added.
Earlier this month, Bangladesh searched cooperation from China repatriated the Rohingya to Myanmar during the visit of Foreign Minister Wang Yi. China brokered an agreement in November 2017 with Myanmar aimed at bringing back refugees.
Hasina and several Cabinet ministers had previously expressed frustration at what they called Myanmar’s inaction in bringing them back under the agreement. UN and Bangladeshi authorities tried at least twice to initiate repatriation, but the refugees refused to go, citing safety concerns in Myanmar.
When Bachelet visited the camps on Wednesday, the refugees appealed to the United Nations to help improve safety inside Myanmar so they can return.
The United Nations said in a statement that the refugees described “their grievances, their pain” to Bachelet.
“The UN is doing what it can to support them. We will continue to do that,” she said. “But we also need to address the deep roots of the problem. We need to address that and make sure that they can return to Myanmar – when it is safe to do so and voluntarily return.”
In March, the United States said the persecution of the Rohingya in Myanmar was tantamount to genocide after authorities confirmed mass atrocities against civilians by the Myanmar military in a wide campaign. systematically and widely against ethnic minorities.
