EU foreign policy chief meets Bangladeshi FM to discuss safe return of Rohingya refugees
By Fatih Hafiz Mehmet
March 2, 2018
ANKARA -- The EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Friday that the safe return of Rohingya refugees to their home country should be made possible.
In a meeting with Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmoud Ali in Brussels, she said the UN Refugee Agency should be involved in the repatriation process, according to a statement from Mogherini's office.
Mogherini appreciated the generous and humane role of the government and the people of Bangladesh, where thousands of Rohingya refugees currently reside.
Myanmar and Bangladesh signed a repatriation deal for the refugees earlier this year, but authorities in Myanmar have refused to allow any international body including the UN to oversee the process.
More than 750,000 refugees, mostly children and women, have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh since August 25, 2017, when Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community, according to the Amnesty International.
The refugees are fleeing a military operation in which security forces and Buddhist mobs have killed men, women and children, looted homes and torched Rohingya villages.
At least 9,000 Rohingya were killed in Rakhine state from Aug. 25 to Sept. 24 last year, according to Doctors Without Borders.
In a report published on December 12, 2017, the global humanitarian organization said the deaths of 71.7 percent or 6,700 Rohingya were caused by violence. They include 730 children below the age of five.
The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.
The UN documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by security personnel. In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.
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