Rohingya refugees rally in Bangladesh camps to demand safe return to Myanmar

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh — Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar living in dozens of camps in Bangladesh held a rally Tuesday to demand their safe return to their home state, nine years after they fled a government crackdown.

The demonstrators urged the international community to ensure security in Rakhine state as they marked what they call the “Ninth Anniversary of Rohingya Genocide Day.”

More than 1 million refugees from Myanmar’s Rohingya ethnic and religious minority now live in the sprawling camps around the Cox’s Bazar district of southeastern Bangladesh.

Most of them fled across the border in a mass exodus in 2017 after Buddhist-majority Myanmar launched a crackdown in Rakhine, following an attack by a Rohingya Muslim insurgent group.

The Bangladesh government earlier attempted to start the repatriation at least twice, but it did not work out as none of the refugees was willing to go back, citing security concerns. Bangladesh says it will not force anyone to return.

In January the International Court of Justice held hearings in a case accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya in Rakhine state in 2017. During three weeks of hearings, the court reviewed documentary evidence, expert testimony, and private witness statements concerning mass killings, systematic sexual violence, and the destruction of villages.

The scale, organization and ferocity of the operation led to accusations of ethnic cleansing and genocide from the international community, including the United Nations.

Myanmar told the court that its deadly military campaign against the Rohingya was a legitimate counter-terrorism operation and did not amount to genocide.

After the 2017 crackdown, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims crossed from Rakhine into neighboring Bangladesh on foot and by boat during shelling, indiscriminate killings and other violence. Rakhine was captured by the insurgent Arakan Army that is fighting Myanmar government forces.

The Bangladesh government opened the border, eventually allowing more than 700,000 refugees to take shelter in the Muslim-majority nation. The influx was in addition to more than 300,000 refugees who already had lived in Bangladesh for decades in the wake of previous violence perpetrated by Myanmar’s military and other forces.

In recent years, the security situation in Rakhine state has become more volatile.

“Whether it is the Arakan Army or the Myanmar military, as long as they continue playing this double game, the situation in Arakan, or Rakhine, will not become safe. Does that mean we are expected to remain here for another 50 years,” Rohingya refugee leader Sayed Ullah said Tuesday. Arakan is the old name of Rakhine.

“We cannot stay here for 50 years. Given the current situation in Arakan, we need to determine how an environment conducive to peace can be created,” he said.

Earlier this month, Myanmar’s military-backed government said that more than 300,000 Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh are former residents of Rakhine state and that it will accept their return once security conditions improve.

But Bangladesh has disputed Myanmar’s statistics and its persistent refusal to use the term “Rohingya” noting that labeling them as “Bengali” is an attempt to deny their identity.