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NEWS - Over 21,000 Myanmar Refugees
Over 21,000 Myanmar Refugees Stay in Bangladesh
Xinhua
24-JUN-98
DHAKA (June 24) XINHUA - A total of
21,661 Rohingya refugees of Myanmar are
now staying in two refugee camps in
Bangladesh awaiting repatriation to their
homeland, Foreign Minister Abdus Samad
Azad said here Wednesday.
The Myanmar government, after
necessary verification, has given
clearance to 7,134 refugees for their
repatriation, Azad told the Jatiya Sangsad,
the country's parliament.
The situation in the refugee camps has
improved and interest of the refugees to
return to Myanmar has increased, he said.
The repatriation of the refugees depends
on favorable weather, efficiency in running
the refugee reception camps and situation
in the camps, said the foreign minister.
He hoped that voluntary repatriation of the
refugees in Cox's Bazar, Southeast
Bangladesh, would resume soon.
About 250,000 Rohingyas crossed the
Bangladeshi border in 1991 and about
230,000 of them have been repatriated
under joint supervision of the Bangladeshi
and Myanmar governments and the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees.
The repatriation process has remained
stalled since July 1997 reportedly as a
result of the refugees' refusal to return.