Source: The Guardian
By Hannah Ellis-Petersen, Shaikh Azizur Rahmanand Michael Safi
Bangladesh has conceded that it will be unable to voluntarily repatriate Rohingya refugees to Myanmar as it had planned because it cannot find anyone willing to go back, though efforts to “motivate” people to leave will continue.
Four trucks and three buses were stationed at Unchiprang camp in Cox’s Bazar on Thursday morning, ready to carry refugees who have been “approved” to a transit camp by the border, but not one refugee was willing to board them. Most refugees on a list of those approved to return have gone into hiding.
Mohammad Abul Kalam, Bangladesh’s refugee relief and rehabilitation commissioner, said his team had completed the “physical and logistical preparations” to facilitate the repatriation but has been forced to accept by Thursday evening local time that the refugees “are not willing to go back now.”
Categories: Asia, Bangladesh, Rohingya Muslims, The Muslim Times