Rohingya refugees staying in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh want to return to Myanmar if the UN assists. However, the UN won't react without a prior agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar.
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00:00Shahnaj Bibi fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar's Rakhine state with her son earlier this year.
00:09She feared for her life after her husband, Mohammed Ayash, was picked up by who she says
00:15was the ethnic rebel group, the Arakan army, without a warrant last year.
00:21Bibi sees no future in her homeland.
00:23The situation in Rakhine is very fragile now. There is no peace.
00:30The price of essential goods is high. People can't move freely. There is no job.
00:35It's also the rainy season. They can't leave their homes.
00:3826-year-old Bibi is one of the over 117,000 refugees who fled to Cox's Bazar since a civil war
00:50between Myanmar's ruling military junta and the Arakan army intensified in 2023.
00:57This followed a military coup overthrowing Aung San Suu Kyi's government in 2021.
01:03The non-state armed group, which is the military arm of Myanmar's Buddhist United League of Arakan
01:09in Buddhist-majority Rakhine state, aims to make Rakhine into an autonomous region.
01:17The AA has control of almost all of Rakhine, which borders Bangladesh.
01:22However, according to the Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group,
01:27the military has imposed a blockade on supplies of essential goods and other services to the region,
01:34making it difficult for the AA to govern the state effectively.
01:38This has left many Muslim Rohingya trapped into the crossfire once again.
01:44According to NGO Amnesty International,
01:472024 was the worst year of violence against the Rohingya community since 2017,
01:53when the Myanmar military launched a violent offensive against the Rohingya,
01:59killing thousands and sending over 600,000 fleeing across the border to Bangladesh.
02:06We are Rohingya Muslims.
02:08We neither trust the Arakan army, not the Myanmar government.
02:12The government hasn't given us peace since 2012.
02:15Now the Arakan army is ruining our lives.
02:18While earlier atrocities and violence were carried out by the Myanmar army,
02:24Rohingya this time around are claiming they face attacks and persecution by the Arakan army too.
02:30They are detaining Rohingya men without showing any reason.
02:36They say you provided the Myanmar army with food and offered them refreshments.
02:41They pick them up by saying so.
02:43Their wives face trouble after their husbands are captured.
02:46They specifically go after beautiful women and harass them.
02:50I have seen it.
02:52The refugees' hope to return home largely depends on the United Nations
02:57as they believe the organization can play a crucial role in determining their fate.
03:03If the UN focuses on us and helps us, along with Bangladesh and the rest of the world,
03:14to ensure our safety and rights, we will 100% return.
03:18If we get back our home and land through the UN,
03:28and if they take back our children peacefully, we will return.
03:32We don't want them to take us like guests and kick us out again by torturing us.
03:36Bangladesh's interim government has made the repatriation of over a million Rohingya refuges
03:48one of its top priorities.
03:50It is working closely with the international community to figure a way out.
03:55A high-level international conference organized by the UN is scheduled
03:59to address the issue in New York, U.S. later this year.
04:03During the discussions on the sidelines of the Beamstack Summit in Bangkok last April,
04:09the Myanmar government announced for the first time
04:12that 180,000 Rohingyas are eligible for repatriation.
04:17Formal and informal contacts are being maintained
04:19with the Myanmar government and the insurgent groups there
04:22to ensure the repatriation of the Rohingya refugees
04:25and the security of our borders.
04:28UN Secretary-General, during his visit to Dhaka in March,
04:32proposed a relief channel to address the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine state.
04:36He said this proposal would be helpful in the repatriation of the Rohingya.
04:40The matter remained at the proposal stage.
04:44The UN said it would only get involved in any such effort if all parties agreed.
04:52The issue of cross-border resistance has sparked huge political debate in Bangladesh.
05:07Some feared that it could backfire if not handled properly.
05:17Myanmar already indicated indirectly that they don't agree to such an initiative.
05:22and it is difficult for them to manage.
05:25Bangladesh's authority said that they haven't talked to the UN about it yet.
05:30That makes us wonder whether some underhand discussions are happening,
05:34but we haven't seen anything official yet.
05:39Words are coming up about whether the government is taking any steps behind the scenes
05:44that could ruin Bangladesh's independence and sovereignty
05:47or put the country under an unexpected war situation.
05:57DW reached out to the Arakhan army for comment on the issue,
06:01but they did not respond.
06:03Bangladesh's government maintain they are in contact with the Arakhan army,
06:07but will not comment further on the nature of this relationship.
06:11Under such a complex situation,
06:15Rohingya refugees' hope to return home looks grim.
06:18Shahna's baby spends her past time by showing pictures of a detained husband to her son,
06:25hoping he won't forget his father.
06:28Shahnaيد
06:35Hol家y
06:39Shahna'i
06:42Shahna'i
06:49Shahna'i
06:51Shahna'i