Bangladesh Postpones Rohingya Repatriation As Refugees Refuse To Leave - Reports

Authorities of Bangladesh postponed plans to start repatriating more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees to Myanmar as none of them wished to return, local media reported on Thursday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th November, 2018) Authorities of Bangladesh postponed plans to start repatriating more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees to Myanmar as none of them wished to return, local media reported on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Bangladeshi Refugee Commissioner Abul Kalam said his team was ready to start Rohingya repatriation process in line with a plan agreed with Myanmar in October and send the first group of 150 refugees back to Myanmar.

However, hundreds of Rohingya staged protests against attempts to send them back, chanting "We will not go," according to the Dhaka Tribune newspaper.

Earlier this week, the UN human rights chief and a rights group called on the Bangladeshi government to postpone Rohingya refugees' repatriation plans because of fears over their safety in Myanmar.

Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar, fled the government's crackdown in response to an attack by Rohingya insurgents on security posts in western Rakhine state in August last year.