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AP-Myanmar Refugees Flee Camps



Wednesday December 2 12:06 PM ET

Myanmar Refugees Flee Camps

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) - More than 500 Muslim refugees from Myanmar
have fled their camps to escape being sent back home, officials said
Wednesday.

The refugees have been missing in southern Bangladesh for the last week.
Police were searching the area's forests and mountains for the men, who were
from two
refugee camps near Teknaf, 190 miles south of Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh sent another 25 Muslim refugees home Wednesday,
bringing the total to 71 since the repatriations resumed last week.

Eight years ago, 250,000 Muslims fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar's western
province of Arakan, accusing the predominantly Buddhist military of rape,
murder
and forced unpaid labor. Bangladesh is an Islamic nation.

Their repatriation began in 1992 after the U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees promised to monitor their safety in Myanmar.

Since then, more than 229,000 refugees have been sent home, a process that
has been suspended by frequent protests. Those missing Wednesday were among
the
21,000 refugees that Bangladesh still wants to send home.