More than 700,000,000 Rohingya fled a military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state last year to refugee camps in Bangladesh.
But very few have returned, and those that have, have not been welcomed back.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) says some have been tortured and thrown in jail.
There are reports of interrogations at gunpoint, and of burns and electric shock treatment designed to force confessions that they were affiliated to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, a group set up, in its words, to defend Rohingya against persecution by the Myanmar government and military, who have been accused of ethnic cleansing.
HRW has stressed the need for international protection before the mainly Muslim Rohingya will be able to return to Myanmar safely.
So, will the repatriation take place? Will the governments be able to guarantee the Rohingya’s safety? And what is at stake?
Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom
Guests:
Tun Khin – president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation in the UK
Phil Robertson – deputy director for the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch
Robert Templer – director of the Barcelona-based Higher Education Alliance for Refugees
Source: Al Jazeera News
