Narinjara news


Burma to take back 3,814 ‘listed’ Rohingya refugees

Maungdaw, 6^th June 03:  According to Refugee Commission sources 124 Rohingya refugees of 20 families have been repatriated to their homes in Burma this week.

The refugees were sheltered in camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf refugee camps in the southern part of Bangladesh.

The total number of Rohingya refugees from Burma awaiting in camps in Bangladesh at present stands at about 21,000, according to a Burmese immigration official.  He also said that according to the ‘list of refugees’ agreed upon by both sides, 3,814 refugees of 1,195 families will be ‘received’ as they have the necessary formal clearance of the Burmese side.  As to the fate of the rest he declined to make any comments.

The Refugee Commission sources in Bangladesh say that there are 12,765 refugees waiting at Nayapara refugee camp for repatriation while another 8,319 refugees are at Kutupalong refugee camps for the same.  Rainfall in the last few days has disrupted the repatriation process, the sources said.

On inquiry we found a number of Rohingya refugees in the camp who were disinclined to go back to Burma for fear of human rights violations, lack of jobs and spiralling prices of essentials. 

A total of 250,000 Burmese refugees came to Bangladesh in 1991 92 to escape the reported wide scale human rights abuse at the hand of the Burmese security forces.  #