Rohingya

A Rohingya refugee delegation visited new facilities in Myanmar on Friday as part of a plan to repatriate the persecuted minority. Bangladesh is currently home to around one million Rohingya who fled a military crackdown in Myanmar in 2017. Both countries signed an agreement to repatriate the Rohingya later that year, but the UN has warned that conditions were not suitable for repatriation. The Rohingya are sceptical of the plan, as they fear their safety and citizenship rights will not be recognised by Myanmar authorities.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for Bangladesh to halt its plan to repatriate Rohingya refugees to Myanmar, citing the risks they would face upon return. A delegation from Myanmar’s military regime recently visited Bangladesh to interview potential candidates for return, but HRW warns that any return to Myanmar would put the lives and liberty of refugees “at grave risk” due to the ongoing military junta’s massacres around the country.