BFF-69 Rohingya want to return to Myanmar as citizens: UN

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BANGLADESH-MYANMAR-REFUGEE-UN

Rohingya want to return to Myanmar as citizens: UN

UNITED NATIONS, United States, July 17, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Myanmar’s
Rohingya refugees have told a UN envoy who visited their camp in Bangladesh
this week that they will return home if it is safe and if they are granted
citizenship rights, a UN statement said Tuesday.

UN envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, met the Muslim Rohingya
in Cox’s Bazar during a three-day visit to Bangladesh from July 14 to 16,
just weeks after holding talks with Myanmar’s leaders on the refugee crisis.

The envoy “heard from the people accounts of unimaginable atrocities
committed in Rakhine State,” said a UN statement.

“Despite these serious violations of human rights, they expressed to the
envoy their hope to return home if security could be guaranteed and
citizenship could be provided,” it added.

More than 700,000 ethnic Rohingya have fled an offensive by Myanmar troops
launched nearly a year ago in reprisal for attacks on border posts by
Rohingya rebels.

UN rights officials have documented allegations of mass killings, rape and
torching of villages at the hands of Myanmar’s military, which the Myanmar
authorities have denied.

The United States, Britain and France as well as the United Nations have
described the military campaign as ethnic cleansing.

Schraner Burgener, who was appointed in April, said Bangladesh needs more
international aid to host the Rohingya and tackle the risk of landslides from
monsoons that have already killed 12 people near the camps.

The envoy will deliver her first briefing to the Security Council on
Monday, which will be held behind closed doors.

BSS/AFP/MRI/2140 hrs