WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd August, 2019) Myanmar has given Bangladesh a list of nearly 3,500 Rohingya refugees that can return to their homes, but no one has accepted the offer, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Thursday.
"The UN Refugee Agency [UNHCR] today said that the government of Myanmar has conveyed to the government of Bangladesh the Names of 3,450 Rohingya refugees who have been cleared for return to Myanmar's Rakhine state," Dujarric said.
"So far, none of the interviewed have indicated a willingness to repatriate at this time," Dujarric said.
The UNHCR nevertheless characterized Myanmar's offer as a "positive step in the affirmation of the right of return of Rohingya refugees," Dujarric noted.
In 2017, Myanmar's military and local militias attacked mainly Muslim Rohingya in a campaign that sent more than 700,000 refugees fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh.
The Myanmar authorities undertook the offensive after attacks by Islamist militants on the country's outposts in its Rakhine state.
Dujarric said UNHCR is assisting Bangladesh in interviews with refugees on the list, many of whom say the eventually want to return when conditions allow.
