'Heated words': Myanmar minister meets Rohingya refugees

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'Heated words': Myanmar minister meets Rohingya refugees

By Tofayel Ahmad

Dhaka: A Myanmar Cabinet minister visited a sprawling refugee camp for Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh on Wednesday, where refugees described the violence that forced them to flee and presented a list of demands for their repatriation.

Social Welfare Minister Win Myat Aye met with about 40 Rohingya Muslims at the Kutupalong camp in Cox's Bazar for more than an hour, sometimes exchanging heated words.

Myanmar’s Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Minister Win Myat Aye arrives at Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox's Bazaar on Wednesday.

Myanmar’s Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Minister Win Myat Aye arrives at Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox's Bazaar on Wednesday.Credit: AP

A Rohingya leader, Abdur Rahim, said at least eight rape victims were among those who met with Win Myat Aye. Rahim said the group presented 13 demands for the government to meet for their return to Myanmar.

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About 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled army-led violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar since last August and are living in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh. The two countries agreed in December to begin repatriating them in January, but they were delayed by concerns among aid workers and Rohingya that they would be forced to return and face unsafe conditions.

Hundreds of Rohingya were reportedly killed in the violence, and many houses and villages were burnt to the ground. The United Nations and the US have described the army crackdown as "ethnic cleansing."

Rohingya Muslim woman, Rukaya Begum, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, holds her son Mahbubur Rehman, left and her daughter Rehana Bibi.

Rohingya Muslim woman, Rukaya Begum, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, holds her son Mahbubur Rehman, left and her daughter Rehana Bibi.Credit: AP

Bangladesh has given Myanmar a list of more than 8000 refugees to begin the repatriation, but it has been further delayed by a complicated verification process.

Win Myat Aye did not specify a timeframe for the repatriation but said it should begin as soon as possible.

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Rahim said the group became angry when Win Myat Aye said the Rohingya refugees must accept national verification cards to be provided by Myanmar in which they state they are migrants from Bangladesh.

"We protested," he told The Associated Press by phone. "We have told him it is not acceptable, we belong to Burma [Myanmar]."

Rohingya Muslims have long been treated as outsiders in Myanmar, even though their families have lived in the country for generations. Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless. They are denied freedom of movement and other basic rights.

Rahim said they demanded to be recognised as citizens of Myanmar before the repatriation starts and that their security arrangements be supervised by the United Nations.

"We told him clearly we want to go back and we want our home, our land and everything back," he said.

Rohingya who have been repatriated in the past after previous refugee exoduses have been forced to live in camps in Myanmar.

Rahim said the rape victims described their experiences to the minister.

"He listened to them patiently and said they will punish those responsible," Rahim said.

He said the minister mentioned that authorities have already investigated some cases and that 10 soldiers had been sentenced to 10 years in jail for rape.

"He promised that once we are back, they will continue their investigation and punish those responsible," he said.

"After initial hiccups, we discussed our points in a friendly manner," Rahim said.

Bangladesh's refugee commissioner, Abul Kalam, said the minister listened to the refugees and replied to their questions.

"He has come here to talk to their people. They talked, we just provided them that support," Kalam said by phone from Cox's Bazar.

Police Superintendent Iqbal Hossain said the minister praised Bangladesh's government and international agencies for their work in supporting the Rohingya people.

"He seemed to be serious about his words," Hossain said.

The recent violence erupted after an insurgent group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, attacked security outposts in Rakhine in late August. The military and Buddhist mobs launched retaliatory attacks on Rohingya that were officially termed "clearance operations".

On Thursday Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull conceded there was a risk the Rohingya refugee crisis could lead to some of the displaced people seeking to come to Australia with people smugglers.

But the prime minister insisted his government continues to be vigilant to all attempts by people smugglers to re-start their trade.

"We do everything we can, we have extensive intelligence, we have extensive resources to ensure that we can frustrate their attempts to get back into business," he told 3AW radio on Thursday.

Meanwhile, a Myamar judge on Wednesday ruled that two Reuters reporters who documented a massacre of Rohingya Muslims would face trial for violating the Official Secrets Act. Judge Ye Lwin, who heard testimony from 17 prosecution witnesses over three months of preliminary hearings, ruled that there was enough evidence to proceed with the case against Kyaw Soe Oo, and Wa Lone.

They face up to 14 years in prison under the British colonial-era act.

AP

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