Rohingya refugees say they would 'rather die' than be sent back to Burma, as repatriation plans are 'stalled until 2019'

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh said on Sunday that they would “rather die” than go back to Burma under current conditions, as it was revealed plans to repatriate them have been stalled until next year.

“We will not return without being given our rights as citizens,” said Mohamad Saddiq Hossain, a local community leader in Kutupalong extension camp, “we would rather die here than be taken back there.” 

Mr Hossain’s feelings were shared by many of the camp's Rohingya residents, who have spent the past week fearing they could be forced back to the country that more than 720,000 were forced to flee in 2017 after a sweeping army crackdown in Rakhine state.

Last Tuesday Bangladesh's government was due to send the first batch of 2,200 refugees back to Burma from the south of Bangladesh, but the process was stalled amid protests. 

Many of those on the list approved by the Burma government fled from their shelters and hid in other camps or in the forest. None of them agreed to return if their demands for justice, citizenship and the ability to go back to their original villages and lands were not met.

Abul Kalam, Bangladesh's refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, told Reuters on Sunday that "a new course of action" needed to be adopted on repatriation that took into account refugees' demands.

"I don't think anyone's agreeing to go back without these," he said. 

Rahin Ullah, a Rohingya refugee believed to be about 50 years old (he is unsure of his exact age) who fled Myanmar last August for the third time, said he wanted to go home but would not do so until there was an end to discrimination against his people.

"We are here just to save our lives for the sake of our children,” he said. “[Burma] is my homeland, my father was born there, my grandfather was born there and, as far as I know, his father before him.” 

Highlighting the still volatile conditions in Burma, four Rohingya were shot in a raid by immigration authorities on an internal displacement camp outside the city of Sittwee on Sunday.

The 20 police officers who entered the camp were looking for men accused of people smuggling after a boat was stopped off the coast on Saturday with 106 Rohingya on board, believed to be on their way to Malaysia.

With Bangladesh set to go to the polls on Dec. 30, any decision either to repatriate people, or relocate refugees from the crowded camps to Bangladesh's Bhasan Char island will not proceed until 2019, Mr Kalam said. 

Bangladesh has vowed not to force anyone to return. But the Rohingya’s presence has become particularly contentious ahead of the elections. Many Bangladeshis feel their small, overpopulated country should not be bearing the burden of an extra million people in one of its poorest regions.

Rohingya like Mr Hossain have little choice.

“Here in Bangladesh we have nothing,” he says, “but it is better than returning.”