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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.