DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) – Myanmar Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh condemned the military coup in their homeland and said it scares them more to return.
A counter-insurgency operation by the Myanmar army in 2017 that involved mass rapes, killings and the burning of villages led to more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims in neighboring Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has welcomed them into crowded refugee camps and is eager to start sending them back to Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Several attempts at repatriation under a joint agreement failed because the Rohingya refused to go there, for fear of further violence in a country that denies them basic rights, including citizenship.
Refugees said Tuesday they are more afraid now that the military is in complete control.
“The military killed us, raped our sisters and mothers, set fire to our villages. How is it possible that we are safe under his control? “Said Khin Maung, head of the Rohingya Youth Association in the Cox’s Bazar district camps.
“Any peaceful repatriation will be greatly affected,” he told The Associated Press. “It will take a long time because the political situation in Myanmar is worse now.”
Officials from Myanmar and Bangladesh met last month to discuss ways to start repatriations, with Bangladesh’s foreign ministry looking more hopefully successful and officials said they hope to start someday in June.
But the refugees said they were totally opposed to the military acquisition.
“We strongly condemn the coup. We love democracy and human rights, so we are concerned about losing them in our country, ”said Maung.
“We are part of Myanmar, so we feel like the common people of Myanmar. We urge the international community to raise its voice against the coup, “he said.
Mohammad Jaffar, 70, said they had been waiting to go back.
“The hope that we had to return now has been interrupted by this regime change in Myanmar,” Jaffar said. “Repatriation will not be safe under this regime. … Now, if we return to the hands of people responsible for our torture, we will probably have to suffer twice as much pain as before ”.
Another refugee said repatriation would not be possible now.
“Even if they try to repatriate us, we will not agree to return to the current situation. If they bring us back to this regime, they will torture us even more, ”Nurul Amin said.
The Bangladesh Foreign Ministry said on Monday that it hopes the coup will not impede the return of refugees.
“As an immediate and friendly neighbor, we would like to see peace and stability in Myanmar. We have been persistent in developing mutually beneficial relations with Myanmar and have been working with Myanmar for the voluntary, safe and sustained repatriation of protected Rohingya to Bangladesh, ”he said.
The United Nations has described Myanmar’s military crackdown on the Rohingya as a form of genocide. In total, more than one million refugees are being protected by Bangladesh.
Monday’s coup marked a dramatic setback for Myanmar, which emerged from decades of strict military rule and international isolation that began in 1962.