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their new home was built to be temporary, and so it proved when it took just 30 minutes for a fire last year to incinerate the metal and
bamboo structures of a whole block of the camp.Fires in the camp have become commonplace in the five years since 700,000 Rohingya fled to
Bangladesh, the August 2017 wave joining the approximately 300,000 already there from previous security crackdowns by the Myanmar military
generations, who have run for decades from violence and discrimination at the hands of the Myanmar government
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh in 1978: decades of persecution have followed
Photograph: Benoit Gysembergh/Paris Match/Getty ImagesBegum, 23, was born in Bangladesh without any prospect of a safe return to the Myanmar
The camp is like an open prison for us
same fate as those before them, accusing the humanitarian agencies of decades of failure to ensure basic rights or to secure a safe
return.One senior aid worker for an international NGO said the UN had consistently failed to challenge the Bangladeshi government over
restrictive policies such as the demand that all homes be temporary, its restrictions on education and movement and the relocation of tens
The fault for those fires is on the UNHCR [UN refugee agency] and IOM [International Organization for Migration]
And they should be held accountable
shelters at the Kutupalong camp by growing vertical gardens
Photograph: Kaamil AhmedHe said the Rohingya posed no significant security threat in Bangladesh, which should ensure more humane
humanitarian agencies are too concerned about maintaining good relationships with the government so they can continue operating in
military, which began on 25 August 2017
Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, but targeted civilians instead
The military, and ethnic Rakhine villagers, used killing, arson and rape to drive hundreds of thousands of people to Bangladesh
The UN called it genocide.Such violence is not new
It was employed by the military in 1978 and 1991, creating similar but smaller refugee crises
Both times, Bangladesh carried out repatriation campaigns to force people back, with apparently little international resistance.A report,
report, seen by the Guardian, the agency cooperated with the government in repatriation efforts during the 1990s, despite concerns about
lack of consent, intimidation and, on one occasion, a group of Rohingya being forced at gunpoint to board boats.Rohingya people flee from
Photograph: The Asahi Shimbun/Getty ImagesA researcher who produced a separate report for the US Congress at the time said that, when
invited by UNHCR to witness a repatriation, they were shocked to see Rohingya burst into tears when told they were being returned to
Myanmar.The UN report also noted that Rohingya faced the same violence and controls when they were returned to Myanmar
Some found their home villages had been taken over as military bases
They faced increased taxes and more restrictions on their movements
Many made the journey back to Bangladesh.The report was particularly damning on the lack of involvement the Rohingya played in
restoration of citizenship rights stripped away in 1982.Refugees have had to walk several hours every day to find wood
Some have been supplied with gas canisters, but rising prices may mean a return to tree felling
Photograph: Kaamil AhmedUNHCR spokesperson Regina de la Portilla said it will ensure any future repatriation is safe and that informed
consent is obtained, but that the conditions in Myanmar are not currently suitable for a return
seen tens of thousands of Rohingya trafficked from Bangladesh and Myanmar to Malaysia
In 2015, the Thai government discovered mass graves at one of the jungle camps where refugees had been held captive.The gang members
threatened to kidnap me if I go outside any more
I already feel dead insideAnuara Begum, refugeeThe trafficking network seemed dormant for several years after that but is now active again,
with reports of boats arriving into southeast Asia
Last week, the Indonesian navy had to retrieve a sinking boat carrying more than 100 people.Rohingya complain that insecurity has spiralled
in the camps, fuelled by armed gangs vying for dominance
Last year, the most prominent Rohingya civil society leader, Mohib Ullah, was assassinated in his office
Two other leaders were shot dead in the camps last week.Speaking at Nayapara refugee camp, Anuara Begum says gang members have threatened to
recent ruling, but the investigation by the international criminal court into forced deportations by the military has been slower.Evidence
gathered by the Commission for International Justice and Accountability, and submitted to the ICC investigation, indicated that there was
evidence the Myanmar military had for years planned operations to expel the Rohingya.Satellite images show the expansion of the Kutupalong
camp in Bangladesh since November 2017.Satellite images show the expansion of the Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh since November 2017
Photographs: Planet LabsDe la Portilla said the UNCHR has tried to improve conditions within the temporary response framework set out by the
government, with better sanitary systems, the ability to respond to fires, and gradually rolling out limited secondary education
But funding has become a major barrier, especially when global prices have soared for key items like gas, which prevents refugees having to
cut firewood.Khin Maung leads the camp-based Rohingya Youth Association
He says UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet told the refugees at a meeting last week that conditions are not right for repatriation
We have the right to struggle for our ethnic rights like other minority communities in their areas
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This article first appeared/also appeared in theguardian.com
