-- Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are facing a new drive of involuntary repatriation -- "...This report attempts to give a voice to the Rohingya refugees in the camps and includes 57 refugee accounts illustrating the types of abuses used by the camp authorities to enforce repatriation. These testimonies denounce 26 acts of forced repatriation itself, usually involving detention in the camp followed by a forceful removal to the transit camp and back to Burma (18 in May 2003 alone), and also expose different types of mental and/or physical pressure to induce repatriation. Refugees unwilling to repatriate have been arrested and then given the choice of signing up for repatriation or going to jail (5 cases of threats and 5 cases of actual transfer to jail). Families have had their ration book seized until they agreed to repatriate (6 cases of deprivation of food). Other incidents have involved physical ill treatment (12 cases of beatings), sudden transfer to other sections of the camp (5 cases), destruction of housing (2 cases). The consequences have been particularly dramatic when families have been divided, when children have been separated from their parents, wives from their husbands, old people left behind and sick refugees abandoned (19 cases of family separation). As a result of these pressures, many refugees fled from the camp to avoid repatriation. Often, the male head of the household runs away, leaving women and children vulnerable in the camps (1 rape case reported). These accounts seriously challenge the voluntary character of the ongoing repatriation exercise. And, thus far, UNHCR has remained rather quiet. The UNHCR proposal also promotes self-sufficiency within the local host community pending return. The UNHCR initiative of promoting "temporary local integration" raises many questions with regard to protection and feasibility of self-reliance in an already tense and saturated environment. The Government of Bangladesh has not endorsed the proposal, and yet the UNHCR is already moving into the implementation phase. FORUM-ASIA calls upon the UNHCR and the Government of Bangladesh to immediately halt these forced repatriations and ensure that the principle of voluntariness is respected. In particular, we call on the UNHCR to continue to provide effective protection and humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya refugees in the camps until a durable solution emerges..." TABLE OF CONTENTS: Acknowledgment; Executive Summary; Map; Introduction; The Rohingya Refugee Exodus And Its Root Causes In Burma; - Root causes; The UNHCR Plan for the camps: Promoting Self-sufficiency Pending Voluntary Return: - UNHCR?s Proposal; - Bangladesh?s position; - Issues of Concern... The Current Situation in the Camps: Coercion, Harassment and Forced Repatriation: - Repatriation figures; - Overview of the Abuses in the Camps and their Consequences ; - Reduction of Humanitarian Assistance... Conclusion; Recommendations; Appendices: The Refugees? Voices - Appendix 1 - Declaration from Rohingya refugees dated 25 May 2003; Appendix 2 - A refugee account of a meeting with UNHCR in Kutupalong camp; Appendix 3 - Selection of 57 refugees? accounts.