Many Rohingya refugees rallied at camps in Bangladesh on Friday to demand their safe return to Myanmar marking the sixth anniversary of violence that forced them to flee their homes. Bangladesh is home to about 1 million stateless ethnic minorities, most of whom fled a 2017 military crackdown and now face a genocide investigation awaiting trial by the International Criminal Court.
Lawlessness in refugee settlements, cuts in humanitarian aid resources around the world and failure to reach a much-publicized repatriation deal have been discouraging.
“We are asking for Myanmar citizenship to be restored. This is nothing new, we were and are Myanmar citizens,” Rohingya community leader Kamal Hussain told AFP.
“They are slowly trying to erase our name from Myanmar’s history.” Despite monsoon rains, several protests took place in sprawling settlements near the Myanmar border. About 10,000 refugees are in the largest group, which includes the battalion of armed police responsible for keeping the camp secure.
“We have a lot of uncertainty here, more and more frustration,” refugee Mohammad Imran, 19, told AFP. “We have to go home with all our rights.” Humanitarian aid to Rohingya refugee camps has been cut this year, and rations are now $8 per refugee per month. Malnutrition is widespread among some refugees and human rights groups say nutrition cuts are exacerbating ongoing difficulties.
Violence continues in the refugee camp which hosts armed forces and is also a base for nearby drug-trafficking networks. Dozens of people including women and children have been killed in clashes in Rohingya refugee camps this year. “As the humanitarian situation in the world’s largest refugee settlement deteriorates … the challenges of this protracted crisis continue to intensify” the UN refugee agency said in a statement this week.
Bangladesh and Myanmar are implementing a pilot program to begin repatriating Rohingya despite concerns from human rights groups that conditions for their return are unsafe.
The Rohingya, widely regarded as Bangladeshi invaders remaining in Myanmar, have been denied citizenship and access to healthcare and required permits to exercise outdoors in their townships. Myanmar’s military junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, who served as navy chief during the crackdown, believes the term Rohingya is a “fiction”.
Bangladesh has repeatedly said the repatriation is voluntary. The pilot project has not yet started, and the United States is still negotiating information with Myanmar authorities, Bangladesh High Commissioner for Refugees Mijanur Rahman told AFP.
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