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HRW condemns Bangladesh, Myanmar on plan to repatriate Rohingya
The Human Rights Watch has criticised sharply a plan to return Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar, saying it poses “grave risks” to their lives and liberty.
Bangladesh is home to about a million Rohingya, most of whom fled a 2017 military crackdown in Myanmar that is now subject to a United Nations genocide investigation.
The two countries are looking to return about 1,100 people in a pilot project in the coming weeks even though the UN has said repeatedly the conditions are not right.
“Bangladesh authorities shouldn’t forget the reasons why Rohingya became refugees in the first place, and recognise that none of those factors have changed,” HRW said.
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“Bangladesh is frustrated with its burden as host, but sending refugees back to the control of a ruthless Myanmar junta will just be setting the stage for the next devastating exodus,” the group said in a statement.
Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh’s refugee commissioner, rejected any claims of coercing the Rohingya to return or not consulting them.
“The repatriation is voluntary,” Rahman told AFP news agency. “The HRW claim is untrue.”
About 600,000 Rohingya in Myanmar’s Rakhine state are confined to squalid camps and villages that leave them vulnerable to extreme weather events such as the recent Cyclone Mocha, it added.
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