Rohingya refugees perform prayers as they attend a ceremony organised to remember the first anniversary of a military crackdown that prompted a massive exodus of people from Myanmar to Bangladesh, at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia on August 25, 2018. Source: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP

SOME 200,000 Rohingya rallied in a Bangladesh camp Sunday to mark two years since they fled a violent crackdown by Myanmar forces, just days after a second failed attempt to repatriate the refugees.

During the brutal August 2017 offensive, around 740,000 of the Muslim minority escaped Myanmar’s Rakhine state — joining those who had fled earlier persecution.

A total of nearly one million refugees now live in three dozen squalid camps in Bangladesh’s southeastern border district of Cox’s Bazar.

On Sunday, children, hijab-wearing women, and men in long-skirt lungis shouted “God is Great, Long Live Rohingya” as they marched at the heart of the world’s largest refugee camp to commemorate what they described as “Genocide Day”.

Under the scorching sun, thousands joined in a popular song with the lyrics “the world does not listen to the woes of Rohingya”.

“I have come here to seek justice for the murder of my two sons. I will continue to seek justice until my last breath,” 50-year-old Tayaba Khatun said as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Myanmar has said it was conducting counter-insurgency operations in August 2017 against Rohingya extremists who attacked police posts.

But the UN last year called for Myanmar’s top generals to be prosecuted for genocide over the crisis.

Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah said the stateless minority wanted to return home, but only after they were granted citizenship, their security was ensured and they were allowed to settle back in their villages.

“We have asked the Burmese government for dialogue. But we haven’t got any response from them yet,” Ullah told the rally.

“We were beaten, killed and raped in Rakhine. But still that is our home. And we want to go back.”

Rohingya students from schools set up by aid agencies held marches with black flags and chanted “yes Rohingya… no Bengali” — in reference to a term Myanmar has used for the ethnic group, implying they are from Bangladesh.

The refugees burst into tears as they offered special prayers, seeking divine blessings for people who had died in the offensive. They had large banners urging Myanmar to “talk to us about citizenship and Rohingya ethnicity”.

Police officer Zakir Hassan told AFP some 200,000 Rohingya took part in the peaceful gathering. Smaller rallies were also held in several other camps.

Security has been tight across Kutupalong camp, the world’s largest refugee settlement and home to more than 600,000 Rohingya.

“Hundreds of police, army and border guards have been deployed to prevent any violence,” local police chief Abul Monsur told AFP.

The rally came three days after the failed attempt to repatriate the refugees, which saw not a single Rohingya turn up to return across the border.

Bangladesh and UN officials interviewed nearly 300 families, but none of them agreed to go back to Myanmar where they fear they would be kept in special camps for internally displaced people.

Myanmar blamed Dhaka for the failure, saying it had not followed correct procedure when distributing so-called “verification forms” to potential returnees — a controversial form of identification that falls short of granting Rohingya citizenship.

Bangladesh on Sunday said Myanmar’s claims were baseless.

“It is Myanmar’s responsibility to create a conducive environment in Rakhine through decisive actions and to reduce the trust deficit of Rohingyas,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Bangladesh refugee commissioner Mohammad Abul Kalam told AFP authorities would continue to talk to more refugees in the next few days as part of repatriation efforts.

Amnesty International said ongoing violence in Rakhine “makes immediate repatriation dangerous and unsustainable” and called on Bangladesh to provide schooling for children in the camps, adding that it would have long-term benefits for Dhaka and the refugees.

On Saturday, Bangladesh police said they shot dead two refugees during a gunfight in a camp after the pair were accused of killing a ruling party official. </s> KUTUPALONG, BANGLADESH (AFP) - Some 200,000 Rohingya rallied in a Bangladesh refugee camp on Sunday (Aug 25) to mark two years since they fled a violent crackdown by Myanmar forces, just days after a second failed attempt to repatriate the refugees.

Around 740,000 Rohingya from Myanmar's Rakhine state escaped in August 2017 during the brutal offensive, joining another 200,000 who fled earlier persecution.

The nearly one million refugees now live in three dozen squalid camps in Bangladesh's south-eastern border district of Cox's Bazar.

On Sunday, children, hijab-wearing women, and men in long-skirt lungis shouted "God is Great, Long Live Rohingya" as they marched at the heart of the world's largest refugee camp, to commemorate what they described as "Genocide Day".

Under the scorching sun, thousands joined in a popular song with the lyrics "the world does not listen to the woes of Rohingya".

"I have come here to seek justice for the murder of my two sons. I will continue to seek justice till my last breath," 50-year-old Tayaba Khatun said as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Myanmar had said they were conducting counter-insurgency operations against Rohingya extremists after they attacked police posts, but the United Nations last year called for Myanmar's top generals to be prosecuted for genocide over the crisis.

Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah said the stateless minority wanted to return home, but only after they were granted citizenship, their security was ensured and they were allowed to settle back in their villages.

"We have asked the Burmese government for dialogue. But we haven't got any response from them yet," Mr Ullah told the rally.

"We were beaten, killed and raped in Rakhine. But still that is our home. And we want to go back."

Young Rohingya students from schools set up by aid agencies held marches with black flags and chanted slogans, "yes Rohingya, ... no Bengali", in reference to the term Myanmar has used for the ethnic group.

The refugees offered special prayers, seeking divine blessings for people who had died. They held large banners urging Myanmar to "talk to us about citizenship and Rohingya ethnicity".

Police officer Zakir Hassan told AFP some 200,000 Rohingya took part in the peaceful gathering, which was attended by UN officials.

Security has been tight across Kutupalong camp, the world's largest refugee settlement and home to more than 600,000 Rohingya.

"Hundreds of police, army and border guards have been deployed to prevent any violence," local police chief Abul Monsur told AFP.

The rally came three days after the failed attempt to repatriate the refugees, which saw not a single Rohingya turn up to return across the border.

Bangladesh and UN officials interviewed nearly 300 families, none of whom agreed to go back Myanmar where they fear they would be kept in special camps for internally displaced people.

Amnesty International said the ongoing violence in Rakhine "makes immediate repatriation dangerous and unsustainable", and called on Bangladesh to provide schooling for children in the camps, adding that it would have long-term benefits for Dhaka and the refugees.

On Saturday, Bangladesh police said they shot dead two refugees during a gunfight in a camp after the pair were accused of killing a ruling party official.

The Rohingya are not recognised as an official minority by the Myanmar government, which considers them Bengali interlopers despite many families having lived in the country for generations. </s> Alwaght- Almost 200,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh have participated in a gathering in Kutupalong camp on Sunday to markthe second anniversary of the Myanmarese army’s brutal crackdown that displaced them, AFP news agency reported.

Children, hijab-wearing women, and men in long-skirt lungis shouted: "God is great, long live Rohingya" as they marched at the heart of the world's largest refugee camp to commemorate what they described as a "Genocide Day".

Some carried placards and banners, reading "Never again! Rohingya genocide remembrance day" and "Restore our citizenship".

On August 25, 2017, nearly 740,000 Muslim-majority Rohingya fled Rakhine State for Bangladesh - joining 200,000 already there - after Myanmar's armed forces launched a brutal crackdown following attacks on security posts.

The United Nations termed the offensive “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing,” with soldiers engaging in rape, murder, and the burning down of entire Rohingya villages.

Sunday's rally came days after a second failed attempt to repatriate the refugees, which saw not a single Rohingya turn up to return across the border.

"We want to tell the world that we want our rights back, we want citizenship, we want our homes and land back," Muhib Ullah, one of the organisers of Sunday's protest, told the Associated Press news agency. "Myanmar is our country. We are Rohingya."

"I have come here to seek justice for the murder of my two sons. I will continue to seek justice till my last breath," 50-year-old Tayaba Khatun told AFP news agency as tears rolled down her cheeks.

The Rohingya, a mainly Muslim minority, are not recognized as an ethnic group in Myanmar, despite having lived there for generations. They have been denied citizenship and are rendered stateless. </s> Thousands of Rohingya refugees have marked the second anniversary of their exodus into Bangladesh by rallying and praying as they demand Myanmar grant them citizenship and other rights before they agree to return.

Almost 200,000 Rohingya participated in a peaceful gathering, which was attended by UN officials, at the Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar on Sunday, police officer Zakir Hassan told AFP news agency.

Children, hijab-wearing women, and men wearing long lungis shouted: “God is great, long live Rohingya” as they marched in the heart of the world’s largest refugee camp to commemorate what they described as “Genocide Day”.

Some carried placards and banners, reading “Never again! Rohingya genocide remembrance day” and “Restore our citizenship”.

On August 25, 2017, nearly 740,000 Muslim-majority Rohingya fled Rakhine State for Bangladesh – joining 200,000 already there – after Myanmar’s armed forces launched a brutal crackdown following attacks on security posts.

Sunday’s rally came days after a second failed attempt to repatriate the refugees, which saw not a single Rohingya turn up to return across the border.

“We want to tell the world that we want our rights back, we want citizenship, we want our homes and land back,” Mohib Ullah, one of the organisers of Sunday’s protest, told the Associated Press news agency. “Myanmar is our country. We are Rohingya.”

“I have come here to seek justice for the murder of my two sons. I will continue to seek justice till my last breath,” 50-year-old Tayaba Khatun told AFP as tears rolled down her cheeks.

‘Long-term problem’

 On Saturday, Bangladesh police said they shot dead two refugees during a gunfight in a camp after the pair were accused of killing a ruling party official.

Nearly a million Rohingya live in squalid camps in southeast Bangladesh.

Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker, reporting from the Kutupalong refugee camp, said: “The scale of this camp is like nothing you have ever seen. It has roughly the same population as Islamabad or Oslo.”

“A city of refugees, but without the infrastructure needed to cope,” she added.

The Rohingya, a mainly Muslim minority, are not recognised as an ethnic group in Myanmar, despite having lived there for generations. They have been denied citizenship and are rendered stateless.

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a repatriation deal in November 2017, with a plan to return the refugees within two years.

Bangladesh, with the help of the UN refugee agency, attempted to start the repatriation of 3,450 Rohingya on Thursday for a second time after the last attempt in November, but none agreed to go back voluntarily.

“They asked if we wanted to go back to Myanmar, I said no. They asked me why. I told them that our homes were burned, our family members were raped and killed. This is why we suffered to come here. How can we go back without knowing that we will be safe?” Noor Hossain told Al Jazeera.

Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah said the stateless minority wanted to return home, but only after they were granted citizenship, their security was ensured and they were allowed to settle back in their villages.

“We have asked the Burmese government for dialogue. But we haven’t got any response from them yet,” Ullah told the rally.

Al Jazeera’s Dekker said many were too “terrified and traumatised” to go back.

“There are reports that most of the homes of these people have been razed to the ground by the authorities, that other structures have been put up in their place, so where will they be going back to?” she said.

“These are the issues that haven’t been addressed and I think many people tell you realistically that this is going to be a long-term problem for Bangladesh and potentially the region.”

‘Genocidal intent’

 A UN-established investigation last year recommended the prosecution of Myanmar’s top military commanders on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for the crackdown on the Rohingya.

On Thursday, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar released a new report concluding that rapes of Rohingya women by Myanmar’s security forces were systemic and demonstrated an intent to commit genocide.

The report said the discrimination Myanmar practised against the Rohingya in peacetime aggravated the sexual violence towards them during times of conflict.

The UN has called the Rohingya crisis a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

“The Rohingya genocide is the last step in the continuity of persecution and a deliberate campaign of terror, violence, killings and rape waged against our people that began decades ago,” the UK-based Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO) said in a statement on Sunday.

“Today, we remember and honour all those who were killed as heroes and martyrs. We will remember them forever.” </s> Advertising Read more

Kutupalong (Bangladesh) (AFP)

Some 200,000 Rohingya rallied in a Bangladesh refugee camp to mark two years since they fled a violent crackdown by Myanmar forces, just days after a second failed attempt to repatriate the refugees.

Around 740,000 Rohingya from Myanmar's Rakhine state escaped in August 2017 during the brutal offensive, joining another 200,000 who fled earlier persecution in vast camps in southeast Bangladesh.

Children, hijab-wearing women, and men in long-skirt lungis shouted "God is Great, Long Live Rohingya" as they marched at the heart of the world's largest refugee camp to commemorate what they described as "Genocide Day".

Under the scorching sun, thousands joined in a popular song with the lyrics "the world does not listen to the woes of Rohingya".

"I have come here to seek justice for the murder of my two sons. I will continue to seek justice till my last breath," 50-year-old Tayaba Khatun said as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Myanmar had said they were conducting counter-insurgency operations against Rohingya extremists after they attacked police posts, but the UN last year called for Myanmar's top generals to be prosecuted for genocide over the crisis.

Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah said the stateless minority wanted to return home, but only after they were granted citizenship, their security was ensured and they were allowed to settle back in their villages.

"We have asked the Burmese government for dialogue. But we haven't got any response from them yet," Ullah told the rally.

"We were beaten, killed and raped in Rakhine. But still that is our home. And we want to go back."

Police officer Zakir Hassan told AFP some 200,000 Rohingya took part in the peaceful gathering.

Security has been tight across Kutupalang camp, the world's largest refugee settlement and home to more than 600,000 Rohingya.

"Hundreds of police, army and border guards have been deployed to prevent any violence," local police chief Abul Monsur told AFP.

The rally came three days after the failed attempt to repatriate the refugees, which saw not a single Rohingya turn up to return across the border.

On Saturday, Bangladesh police said they shot dead two refugees during a gunfight in a camp after the pair were accused of killing a ruling party official.

The Rohingya are not recognised as an official minority by the Myanmar government, which considers them Bengali interlopers despite many families having lived in the country for generations.

© 2019 AFP </s> COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh: Bangladesh police shot dead a third Rohingya refugee on Monday (Aug 26) after they were accused of the murder of a ruling party official that has sparked anger among the local population.

Nearly a million Rohingya live in squalid camps in south-east Bangladesh, 740,000 of whom fled a 2017 military offensive against the Muslim minority in Myanmar.

Police said Mohammad Hasan, a suspected Rohingya "dacoit" or gang member, was shot dead after he allegedly opened fire at officers during a raid to arrest him at Jadimura refugee camp.

"He is an accused in the murder of Omar Faruk," local police chief Prodeep Kumar Das told AFP, referring to a ruling Awami League party youth wing official who was shot in the head by suspected Rohingya criminals on Thursday.

On Saturday police said they had shot dead two Rohingya refugees at the same refugee camp in the Cox's Bazar district over their alleged roles in the murder.

Rights activists, who asked not to be named, said they believe the two Rohingya men were killed by police in what appeared to be a staged encounter.

The incident comes days after a second failed attempt to repatriate the refugees which saw not a single Rohingya turn up to return across the border to conflict-scarred Rakhine state.

On Sunday, the Rohingya marked two years since the military crackdown in Myanmar with some 200,000 rallying in a refugee camp where refugee leaders vowed they won't return home unless their rights and security are ensured.

Faruk's murder had sparked anger among the local population, with hundreds of furious people blocking a key highway leading to the camp for hours on Thursday, burning tyres and vandalising shops visited by refugees.

Rohingya refugees have said the recent bloodshed has created an atmosphere of fear in the camp, where security has been tightened.

With the latest death, at least 33 Rohingya have been killed by Bangladeshi police and security forces since the exodus in August 2017, a police inspector Ruhul Amin told AFP.

He said that most were suspected drug traffickers, accused of smuggling yaba, a popular methamphetamine pill from across the Myanmar border.

UN investigators have said the 2017 violence warrants the prosecution of top Myanmar generals for "genocide". </s> Some 200,000 Rohingya rallied in a Bangladesh refugee camp to mark two years since they fled a violent crackdown by Myanmar forces, just days after a second failed attempt to repatriate the refugees.

Around 740,000 Rohingya from Myanmar’s Rakhine state escaped in August 2017 during the brutal offensive, joining a further 200,000 who fled earlier persecution in vast camps in southeast Bangladesh.

People shouted “God is great, long live Rohingya” as they marched in the scorching sun at the heart of the world’s largest refugee camp to commemorate what they described as “Genocide Day”.

“I have come here to seek justice for the murder of my two sons – I will continue to seek justice, ” Tayaba Khatun, 50, said through her tears.

Myanmar had said it was conducting counter-insurgency operations against Rohingya extremists after they attacked police posts, but the UN called in 2018 for Myanmar’s top generals to be prosecuted for genocide over the crisis.

Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah said the stateless minority wanted to return home, but only after they were granted citizenship, their security was ensured and they were allowed to settle back in their villages.

“We have asked the Burmese government for dialogue, but we haven’t got any response from them yet,” Ullah told the rally.

“We were beaten, killed and raped in Rakhine. “But still that is our home. “And we want to go back.“Police officer Zakir Hassan said some 200,000 Rohingya took part in the peaceful event.

Security has been tight across Kutupalang camp, the world’s largest refugee settlement and home to more than 600,000 Rohingya.

The rally came three days after the failed attempt to repatriate the refugees, which saw not a single Rohingya turn up to return across the border.

On Saturday, Bangladesh police said they had shot dead two refugees during a gunfight in a camp after the pair were accused of killing a ruling party official.

The Rohingya are not recognised as an official minority by the Myanmar government, which considers them Bengali interlopers. </s> Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh - On a fateful August morning two years ago, Safina Begum, now 23, fled her charred village in Maungdaw district in Myanmar and slogged through marshland and paddy fields for three days to reach the Kutupalong refugee camp in neighbouring Bangladesh.

"They [Myanmar army] killed my father and two brothers in front of my eyes. I ran for my life," Safina, who has taken shelter in Shalbagan camp for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, told Al Jazeera.

While life in the refugee camps is not easy, Safina said she at least does not have to fear for her life here. "If I go back there, I will die."

Like Safina, nearly a million Rohingya live in 27 refugee camps in southern Bangladesh.

Most arrived there two years ago when more than 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh after a brutal military crackdown by the Myanmar army that started on August 25, 2017.

They joined hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who were already living in Bangladesh, having fled earlier waves of violence during the 1970s and 1990s.

Akbar Ali, 52, wants to go back. But he says his daughters, one of whom was allegedly raped by the Myanmar army, are too traumatised to go back.

"My heart cries for my home in Rakhine state. I have spent all of my life there. I used to have farmland. Here I have nothing, living the life of refugees," said Ali.

A second attempt to return 3,400 refugees last week failed as refugees said they feared going back to Rakhine without a guarantee of citizenship rights and safety.

Kulsum Begum, who lives with her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren in Shalbagan camp, told Al Jazeera she was content that they have food and shelter in refugee camps.

She said she "doesn't ask for more from God".

"I only wish my son had a job, but it's very hard for a refugee to get one," she said.

Many Rohingya refugees have started small enterprises in the camps.

Shafiq (who didn't reveal his surname) was four when he came to Kutupalong camp with his father in 1991.

Now, 32, he runs a tailoring shop inside the Nayapara camp. "I get a lot of orders from the refugees as I can sew the clothes according to the latest fashion trend."

Shafiq said he can't remember anything about his homeland.

"I came here as a child. I have lived as a refugee all my life." </s> Bangladesh’s leader demanded that Myanmar allow the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who fled recent violence in the Buddhist-majority nation – a crisis she said left her speechless. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh would offer the refugees temporary shelter and aid, but that Myanmar should soon “take their nationals back.”

“We will not tolerate injustice,” she said Tuesday at the Kutupalong refugee camp, near the border town of Ukhiya in Cox’s Bazar district. At least 370,000 Rohingya have flooded into Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when Myanmar’s military responded to a major insurgent attack with what it called “clearance operations” to root out the rebels. Many of the fleeing Rohingya have said Myanmar soldiers shot indiscriminately, burned their homes and warned them to leave or die. Others said they were attacked by Buddhist mobs.

The crisis has drawn sharp criticism of Myanmar’s government and its leader, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi. On Tuesday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the killing of Muslims a political disaster and called Suu Kyi a “brutal woman.” UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said the Rohingya were victims of what “seems a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”

Two human rights groups on Tuesday accused the UN Security Council of ignoring the crisis. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International spoke at UN headquarters ahead of closed council discussions Wednesday about the Myanmar situation.

Louis Charbonneau, the UN director for Human Rights Watch, said, “This is an international peace and security crisis” and there is no excuse for the Security Council “sitting on its hands.”

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the world’s largest Muslim body, is urging Myanmar to allow in UN monitors so they can investigate what it alleges is systematic brutality against the Rohingya. The UN Human Rights Council approved an investigative mission earlier this year, but Myanmar in June refused to allow it to enter. An envoy’s visit in July was met with protests.

In Myanmar, a Rohingya man said security forces arrived Monday in the village of Pa Din, firing guns, setting new fires to homes and driving out hundreds of Rohingya. “People were scared and running out of the village,” the villager said, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety.

Myanmar police, however, said the houses were burned by terrorists they called Bengalis, a term used derisively in Myanmar against Rohingya. Myanmar’s military said Rohingya villagers helped them arrest six suspected insurgents armed with swords and slingshots on Monday. The military commander in chief’s office posted on Facebook that the six were detained as they entered Ka Nyin Tan village in Maungdaw township.

In Bangladesh, Kutupalong and another existing Rohingya camp were already beyond capacity. Bangladesh has said it would provide 2,000 acres (810 hectares) for a new camp in Cox’s Bazar district to help shelter new arrivals. Some were staying in schools or huddling in makeshift settlements along roads and in open fields. Basic resources were scarce, including food, clean water and medical aid.

Aid agencies have been overwhelmed by the influx of Rohingya, many of whom are arriving hungry and traumatized after walking for days through jungles or being packed into rickety wooden boats in search of safety in Bangladesh. The government hospital in Cox’s Bazar has been overwhelmed by Rohingya patients, with 80 arriving with gunshot wounds as well as bad infections.

At least three Rohingya were wounded by land mines amid accusations that Myanmar’s government had planted new mines along the routes Rohingya are using to flee. Dozens also have drowned when boats capsized during sea and river crossings. Myanmar’s authorities said more than a week ago that some 400 people _ mostly described as insurgents _ had died in clashes with troops, but it has offered no updated death toll since.

Rohingya have faced decades of discrimination and persecution in Myanmar and are denied citizenship despite centuries-olds roots there. Before Aug. 25, Bangladesh had already been housing some 500,000 Rohingya who arrived after bloody anti-Muslim rioting in 2012 or amid earlier persecution drives in Myanmar.

The OIC, in its statement issued Tuesday, called on Muslim countries to work together to help the Rohingya refugees. It made its decision after an emergency meeting on the sidelines of a technology conference in Astana, Kazakhstan.

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At Kutupalong, the world's largest refugee camp, in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, 200,000 people gather peacefully to remember the day, in 2017, when a violent crackdown by Myanmarese security forces compelled 740,000 Rohingya to flee over the border.