Frightened Rohingya rebuff B’desh repatriation bidCOX’S

BAZAR, Bangladesh: Frightened and angry Rohingya refugees on Thursday forced Bangladesh to call off efforts to start sending back some of the hundreds of thousands of the stateless Muslims to Myanmar, casting fresh doubts over a disputed repatriation programme.

Not a single Rohingya from the 720,000 estimated to have fled a Myanmar military crackdown in August last year volunteered to be in the first 150 returnees under the accord signed with Bangladesh. Hundreds staged a demonstration shouting “we will not go”.

With the United Nations and aid groups also fighting the repatriation programme, Rohingya leaders said many on a Bangladesh repatriation list of 2,260 people had gone into hiding. Bangladesh officials waited for hours at a border transit point, but not one of the refugees turned up.

At a special camp nearby, five buses waited to carry volunteers to the border. They remained empty and about 1,000 Rohingya men, women and children took part in the demonstration against repatriations, shouting “we want justice”.Tajul Mulluk, 85, who is on the repatriation list, said: “They killed two of my sons. I escaped to Bangladesh with two others. Please don’t send us back. They will kill the rest of my family.”

“We can’t go back,” added Mohammad Amin, 45, who was among the protesters. “They (Myanamar) have tortured us, killed our people. If we go back without any justice, they will repeat the same thing. That’s why we protested today.”

The United Nations had urged Bangladesh to suspend the programme, with rights chief Michelle Bachelet saying it would send the Rohingya “back to the cycle of human rights violations that this community has been suffering for decades.”

Many of the Rohingya who fled Myanmar last year have recounted horrific tales of murder, rape and razed villages. The United Nations has said a genocide investigation is warranted.Bangladesh refugee commissioner Mohammad Abul Kalam said his team was “completely ready” to start sending back Rohingya but stressed that only volunteers would go.