Myanmar says it will accept a small fraction of the refugee population now in Bangladesh, but the Rohingya themselves say they are unwilling to go back to Myanmar's Rakhine state. Refugee community leaders are appealing to "Rohingya-friendly" countries to take them in. Ko Ko Linn, a Rohingya community leader in Bangladesh, told VOA that conditions in Myanmar had become unlivable, particularly in recent weeks, and "they do not want to return to this anti-Rohingya Myanmar."
'Unlivable' situation
Linn, an executive member of the Arakan Rohingya National Organization, said, "The Myanmar government and the country's Buddhist-majority society have turned extremely hostile against the Rohingya Muslims, turning the country into a hell for them." An Amnesty International report last month accused Myanmar security forces of being responsible for unlawful killings, multiple rapes and the burning down of houses and entire villages in a "campaign of violence against Rohingya people that may amount to crimes against humanity."
Rohingya men have just arrived from Myanmar, at an unidentified place in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh.
The Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh called in Myanmar's ambassador Thursday to complain about the refugees and to demand an early return of all Rohingya migrants to Myanmar. Kamrul Ahsan, Bangladesh's Bilateral and Consular Secretary, told Ambassador Myo Myint Than there is "deep concern at the continued influx of Muslims" from Myanmar. A Foreign Ministry statement in Dhaka said Ahsan asked "the Myanmar government to urgently address the root cause of the problem," so that the Rakhine Muslims are not forced to flee Myanmar and seek shelter in Bangladesh.
Less than 1 percent can return
One day after that tense meeting in Dhaka, Myanmar said it would agree to accept the return of fewer than 2,500 Rohingya from Bangladesh — less than 1 percent of the total refugee population, which is estimated to be at least 350,000 people. Authorities in Yangon contend most of the impoverished Rohingya now seeking shelter in Bangladesh are not citizens of Myanmar, because they are descended from illegal immigrants who arrived years ago. The Rohingya, however, claim their community has lived where Myanmar is located for several centuries.
Rohingyas who fled Myanmar over the past decades live in this decrepit Kutupalong illegal Rohingya refugee colony in Cox’s Bazar district, Bangladesh.
Separately, Bangladesh's foreign secretary, Shahidul Haque, said Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to send a special envoy to Bangladesh soon, to take stock of the Rohingya refugee situation. Violence directed at Rohingya Muslims has broken out in Myanmar sporadically in recent years, and members of the Muslim minority fleeing persecution kept crossing over to southeastern Bangladesh, which lies adjacent to their home villages in Rakhine state. The situation worsened considerably 11 weeks ago, however, after nine Myanmar border guards were killed in an armed attack blamed on Rohingya militants.
Refugee tide swelled recently