International charities including Christian organisations have joined forces to condemn a forced return of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar.
Around 626,000 Rohinghas have been driven out of Myanmar's Rakhine State since August by a campaign against them from the military involving murder and rape, described by the international community as ethnic cleansing. Facilities in Banglash have been overwhelmed and they are living in squalid and dangerous conditions. Many arrive injured and traumatised, having seen family members murdered.
However, the governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar announced on November 23 that repatriation would begin within two months.
The statement from 15 organisations working in the region, including World Vision, the Church of Sweden and the Lutheran World Federation, urged that before any refugees were returned their rights and safety should be guaranteed.
The statement said the United Nations' relief body UNHCR should take a lead role in organising repatriations and should be enabled to monitor their treatment. Returned refugees, it said, 'should be allowed to return to their original homes and/or land, or to a place of their choice. There should be no form of closed camps or camp-like settlements.'
It called for compensation to be given for their losses and said those guilty of atrocities should be held to account, urging 'an independent fact-finding mission into allegations of human rights violations and a judicial process to hold perpetrators to account and instil confidence in the survivors'.
'Regardless of what side of the border they are on, the humanitarian needs of these refugees will remain urgent. They could even increase if returns aren't safe and voluntary,' said Suresh Bartlett, national director of World Vision Myanmar.
World Vision is working in Bangladesh's refugee camps to distribute food, protect women and children from exploitation and abuse, and improve water and sanitation sources.
'Everyone deserves full and equal rights, and our priority remains firm: children – the most vulnerable in crises – must be protected from all forms of violence,' said Bartlett.
