Rohingya in Bangladesh demand safe, dignified return to Myanmar

DHAKA, Bangladesh

Hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced Rohingya gathered in their temporary shelters on the southeast coast of Bangladesh on Friday, demanding a safe and dignified return to their home country Myanmar with equal citizenship rights.

They held rallies across the camps in southeastern Cox’s Bazar district holding banners and placards to mark the sixth anniversary of the Rohingya exodus from Myanmar.

Nearly 1.2 million Rohingya live in Bangladesh, the majority of whom fled a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine state in August 2017. While most of them remain in overcrowded camps in the southern Cox's Bazar district, approximately 30,000 have been relocated to Bhasan Char islet since late 2020.

The participants of the rallies highlighted their longstanding demand for repatriation to their home country where the Rohingya Muslims had been living for generations.

However, the Myanmar junta continues to create conditions that are hostile to repatriation, they alleged.

Abdullah, a Rohingya man who has been living in Kutupalong Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar, told Anadolu over the phone that he along with hundreds of his fellow campmates joined a rally commemorating the genocide in August 2017 by the Myanmar military.

“We commemorated our people who were brutally murdered, our women who were raped mercilessly, and our children and unborn infants in the womb of mothers who were killed by the monster Myanmar military personnel,” he recounted the nightmare.

He called for bringing those involved in genocide to justice, adding: “We demand justice. We want to return to Myanmar safely. And, demand equal rights as a Myanmar citizen before any repatriation.”

Ali Jinnah Hussin, a Rohingya youth living in the world's largest refugee camp, also participated in Friday's rally in his camp.

“As a survivor of the Rohingya genocide, we will never forget it and we will never forgive anyone who committed genocide against us. We will keep on fighting until we get justice, equal rights, and freedom,” he told Anadolu.

The Rohingya people want to go back to their original homeland as soon as possible with safety and dignity.

- Struggle for survival

“Until safe repatriation, we need protection and food support,” Abdullah, who has a 10-member family, demanded.

“We get $80 – $8 for each of my 10 family members – on a monthly basis. What we get is a two-day meal budget for a normal family but we have to survive with this for a month. We don’t have any other source of income or employment opportunities in the camps. And, our movement outside the camps is restricted,” he described.

It’s becoming next to impossible to survive with this food ration, he added, calling upon the global community to extend their support.

Rohingya people staying in temporary shelters are losing basic human rights and their future, Hussin lamented, urging global powers to put pressure on the Myanmar government to ensure a safe environment for repatriation.