Militant Burma refugees boycott foo

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Subject: Militant Burma refugees boycott food in Bangladesh 



 Militant Burma refugees boycott food in Bangladesh 
 10:53 a.m. Aug 05, 1997 Eastern 

 CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh, Aug 5 (Reuter) - Thousands of
 Burmese Moslem refugees seeking a permanent home in Bangladesh
 refused food rations for the 16th straight day on Tuesday. 

 Militant refugees barricaded the entrance to their camp, shouting
 demands and warning of tougher action if anyone tried to force them
 from Bangladesh, witnesses said. 

 Government officials said militants in the Nayapara camp on
 Bangladesh's southeastern border with Burma were preventing
 officials from giving the refugees food. 

 ``The militants in the Nayapara camp even prevented the sick and
 frail from collecting food rations for the 16th consecutive day,'' one
 government official said. 

 ``This is a very complex situation and we can't really force anything,''
 he told Reuters in the port of Chittagong. 

 ``The militants are keeping a close watch on those intending to take
 the rations. Sometimes they get very rough while enforcing the
 boycott,'' he said without elaborating. 

 The food boycott started on July 21 as part of a protest by Burmese
 Moslems, known as Rohingyas, against what they say are attempts
 by the Bangladesh government to send them back home by force. 

 At least 20 people, including six policemen, have been injured in
 clashes at the Nayapara camp, which forced authorities to suspend
 the repatriation process. 

 There are about 21,000 Rohingya refugees at two camps in
 Bangladesh -- about 13,000 at Nayapara and 8,000 at another
 camp, Kutupalong. 

 They are the remnants of some 250,000 Rohingyas who crossed into
 Bangladesh in early 1992 from western Burma's Moslem-majority
 Arakan province to escape alleged persecution by Burma's military
 government. 

 A food boycott at Kutupalong ended last week. ^REUTER@