DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The gradual repatriation of more than 680,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees back to Myanmar from Bangladesh, scheduled to begin Tuesday, has been delayed amid widespread fears that refugees would be forced to return, a Bangladesh official said today.
The refugees began pouring across the border into Bangladesh in August, fleeing waves of attacks by Myanmar security forces and Buddhist mobs.
While the two countries have signed an agreement to begin sending people home in “safety, security and dignity,” the process has been chaotic and opaque, leaving international aid workers and many Rohingya afraid they would be coerced into going back to villages that they fled only months ago.
Abul Kalam, Bangladesh’s refugee and repatriation commissioner, said a number of issues remain unresolved.
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