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COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh / YANGON (Reuters) – Dozens of Rohingya Muslim families living in Bangladesh where they were living, Rohingya leader said on Monday, even as Myanmar ready to begin receiving them.
FILE PHOTO: Rohingya refugees walk at Jamtoli camp in the morning in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, January 22, 2018. REUTERS / Mohammad Ponir Hossain
"Said Abdus Salam, a leading Rohingya at the Jamtoli camp, some 40 km (25 miles) southeast of Cox's Bazaar in Bangladesh, adding more fled to other neighboring camps to avoid being detected and forced to return.
Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed in late October to begin repatriation of millions of Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar to escape an army crackdown, even though the United Nations .
The repatriation of the first batch of 2,000 refugees is set to begin on November 15 and officials in Myanmar said on Sunday they were ready to begin receiving refugees this week.
"It depends on the other country," "Win Myat Aye, Myanmar 's Minister for Social Welfare and Resettlement, told a news conference, referring to Bangladesh. "But we must be ready from our side. We have done that. "
Last week, they said that they would refuse to return to Myanmar's western Rakhine state, from where they fled, saying that they were terrified.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said that it would be willing to go to the United Nations.
Firas Al-Khateeb, UNHCR representative in Bangladesh, told Reuters on Sunday that this effort had not yet begun.
AVOIDING PRAYERS
"They are afraid of being identified, they are avoiding Friday prayers at the mosque," said one refugee, who has fled with his family from Jamtoli to the wider Kutupalong camp to evade repatriation.
The United Nations has not yet been in place because of Myanmar Buddhists have been protesting against the return of Rohingya.
The UNHCR said that they should be allowed to return.
Abul Kalam, Bangladesh Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, said he was hopeful the process could begin on Thursday.
"The return will be voluntary. Nobody will be forced to go back, "he told Reuters.
More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled the army sweeping crackdown in Myanmar last year. They say massacred families, burned hundreds of villages, and carried out gang rapes. U.N-mandated investigators have accused the army of "genocidal intent" and ethnic cleansing.
Myanmar denies almost all of the allegations, saying security forces were battling terrorists. Attacks by Rohingya insurgents calling themselves the Rohingya Arakan Salvation Army preceded the crackdown.
"INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT"
The UNHCR called for Myanmar to allow Rohingya to return to their places of origin or to make their own "independent assessment of whether they feel safe and secure".
"Myanmar authorities should allow these refugees to go back to their earlier days," the UNHCR said in a statement late on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Myanmar Minister Win Myat Aye said preparations had been made for 2,251 people to be transported to two transit centers on Thursday, while a second group of 2,095 could follow later by road.
Once processed, they would be housed, fed, and asked to build homes via cash-for-work schemes.
Returnees would be only one of the three cities of the United States.
Many Rohingya, who have been left stateless, oppose going back without guarantees of citizenship and freedom of movement.
Reporting by Ruma Paul in Cox's Bazaar and Poppy McPherson and Shoon Naing in Yangon; Additional reporting by Thu Thu Aung in Yangon; Writing by Euan Rocha and Poppy McPherson; Editing by Mike Collett-White, Michael Perry and Alex Richardson
