Hundreds of Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh protested on Thursday against any attempt to send them back to Myanmar after the launch of a repatriation plan was postponed.

Bangladesh had begun preparations to repatriate an initial batch of 2,200 Rohingya to Myanmar on Thursday, in line with a plan agreed with Myanmar in October, but by late afternoon no refugees had been moved back across the border, Myanmar officials said.

There have been extensive doubts about the plan, which has been opposed by the UN refugee agency and aid groups, who fear for the safety of the Rohingya in Myanmar, and by many Rohingya in camps in Bangladesh.

“No, no, we won’t go,” hundreds of Rohingya protesters chanted in the Unchiprang camp in southeast Bangladesh, near the Myanmar border.

Some protesters also waved placards that read “We want justice” and “We will never return to Myanmar without our citizenship”.

More than 700,000 Rohingya fled a sweeping army crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in 2017, according to UN agencies, launched in response to Rohingya insurgent attacks on the security forces.

The Rohingya refugees say soldiers and Buddhist civilians massacred families, burnt hundreds of villages and carried out gang rapes. UN-mandated investigators have accused the Myanmar army of “genocidal intent” and ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar denies almost all the accusations, saying its security forces have been engaged in a counter-insurgency operation against “terrorists”.

Myanmar blamed Bangladesh for failing to supply returnees but said it is still ready to accept them.

“Bangladesh side didn’t transfer anyone until now. To be honest, Bangladesh is weak in following the physical arrangement,” said Myint Thu, permanent secretary at Myanmar’s foreign affairs ministry.

Unverified images on social media showed officials on the Myanmar side of the border waiting at a reception centre.

“We will accept them according to the agreement signed by the two countries. Whether they come back or not is their own decision.”

Earlier, three sources directly briefed on the issue said repatriation would not begin on Thursday as none of those selected to go back had agreed.

“Nobody wants to go back,” said one of the sources.</s>COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) — Normal life returned to a Rohingya Muslim refugee camp in Bangladesh on Friday, a day after government authorities postponed plans to begin repatriating residents to Myanmar when no one volunteered to go.

United Nations officials and international aid agencies praised the government of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who hopes to retain power in elections next month, for upholding a commitment not to force the repatriation.

Hasina has repeatedly discussed the toll on Bangladesh of hosting more than a million Rohingya — including more than 700,000 who fled military-led violence in Myanmar since August 2017 and tens of thousands of others who escaped previous bouts of violence and persecution.

Residents of Cox's Bazar district often complain that they have been undercut by refugees willing to work illegally for lower wages. Thousands of acres (hectares) of national forests usually roamed by wild elephants have been taken over by the cramped and unsanitary camps.

But Hasina's decision not to force the repatriation is unlikely to hurt her bid to win a third term in December, according to Pinak Chakravarty, India's former ambassador to Bangladesh and a fellow with the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.

"The people of Bangladesh are sympathetic to the plight of the Rohingya. Apart from the fact that they're refugees, they're fellow Muslims. She understands that these feelings are strong, and that is why I think she would not force anyone to go," he said.

As it became apparent that refugees were unlikely be sent back, tensions eased in the camps. The checkpoints at the entrance to Unchiprang, one of the refugee camps near the city of Cox's Bazar, were temporarily left unguarded on Friday morning as about 500 people crowded into a mosque for Friday prayers.

One of the imams, Abdul Hakim, told the devotees that the government could not force Rohingya to go back without Myanmar guaranteeing them protection and civil rights, to which they raised their hands and replied, "Amen."

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh from western Myanmar's Rakhine state since last year to escape killings and destruction of their villages by the military and Buddhist vigilantes that have drawn widespread condemnation of Myanmar.

Bangladesh's refugee commission had planned to begin a voluntary repatriation process under a United Nations-brokered deal with Myanmar by escorting about 150 refugees across the border on Thursday, despite calls by U.N. officials, Human Rights Watch and others to wait until the Rohingya's safety in Myanmar could be assured.

U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said earlier this week that the agency continues to receive reports of ongoing violations of the rights of Rohingya remaining in Rakhine, including "allegations of killings, disappearances and arbitrary arrests," as well as widespread restrictions on freedom of movement, health and education.

Fearful of returning home, some people on Bangladesh's repatriation list left their shanties and disappeared into other camps.

After a demonstration involving about 1,000 Rohingya broke out at Unchiprang, Refugee Commissioner Abul Kalam said plans had been shelved because no refugees were willing to return.

Kalam did not immediately return calls and messages on Friday, and it was unclear when the process would begin again.

Nabi Hossain, 45, left his shanty at Unchiprang camp late Wednesday with his wife, Jamila Begum, and six other family members after noticing extra security at the camp.

"We heard they will come and take us. We were in a panic," Hossain said, adding that the family slept outside and didn't eat much because they didn't want a cooking fire to attract attention.

They returned Thursday after hearing about the protest.

"If they allow us to have our rights, our citizenship, we want to go. But if we are forced, if our rights are not given, it is better to crush us under the wheels of cars or be thrown in a river," Hossain said.

Not everyone who fled Unchiprang has returned.

Johara, 30, a mother of five, said her husband left five days ago with their 6-year-old daughter, who was traumatized after witnessing Myanmar soldiers ransack their home village.

"My daughter is terrified. She told her father to take her with him," she said.

Johara, who goes by one name, said her husband left to find his parents at another camp after she gave an interview to aid workers, and the family found out they were on the government's repatriation list.

While Johara waited for her husband and daughter to return, activity at Unchiprang returned to normal, with little sign of the aid workers, journalists or government officials who had swarmed the camp earlier in the week.

Even as refugees in Bangladesh protested against repatriation, concerns grew that another Rohingya exodus from Myanmar by sea may be in the works.

Authorities in Myanmar arrested 106 people, believed to be Rohingya, whose boat drifted to shore Friday morning in Kyauktan township, south of Yangon, during what they said was an effort to sail to Malaysia.

One of the people detained, who did not give his name, told reporters that the group came from a displacement camp for Rohingya near Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine. He said the group departed on Oct. 25, and one passenger, a 20-year-old woman, had died of hunger.

The boat drifted to shore after they decided to return to Rakhine because of the lack of supplies and tried to turn it around, he said.

Sittwe is a frequent exit point for Rohingya seeking to make the dangerous and illegal voyage by sea to Malaysia, which is a Muslim majority country which generally tolerates their arrival.

In 2015, a mass of such journeys caused a regional crisis, especially as the policy of some nations, especially Thailand, was to turn away the boats, even when those aboard were in desperate circumstances. Unknown hundreds of refugees are believed to have perished at sea. Several boats made the same voyage in April this year.

Another boat believed to be carrying Rohingya refugees was sighted Friday near Indonesia.

Muhammad Nasir, who heads a disaster mitigation office in the northern part of Indonesia's Sumatra island, said fishermen reported seeing a wooden boat carrying about 80 people believed to be Rohingyas.

Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said Friday that the continued Rohingya flight from Myanmar shows that Bangladesh's repatriation plans should remain shelved.

"Myanmar might claim that it is ready to receive the refugees, but the truth is that the conditions are not safe, and the Rohingya cannot make a decision about voluntary returns until human rights protections are guaranteed with international monitoring, and there is accountability for the horrible abuses by the military," she said.

Associated Press journalist Min Kyi Thein in Kyauktan, Myanmar, contributed to this report.</s>Yangon - A boatload of more than 100 Rohingya Muslims who fled a camp in Myanmar were found off the country’s south coast Friday after spending 15 days at sea in a failed attempt to reach Malaysia.

The group of 106 people were discovered floating in a wooden boat on the Andaman Sea just off the shore of Kyauktan township an hour south of Myanmar’s commercial capital of Yangon, police told AFP.

The Rohingya said their group included 23 children and that a girl had died “about nine days ago”.

“One girl died at sea... she had not eaten and had drank seawater,” said Eilia, 35, who added the boat had run out of petrol.

Others in the mostly male group said they were from various Rohingya camps in Sittwe, Rakhine state’s capital.

“We left 15 days ago and are going to Malaysia,” said a young Rohingya man, who was immediately barred from speaking to reporters by police.

The group was escorted by local Red Cross members and immigration officers to Kyauktan township in eight vans, with four armed police officers in each vehicle. Once in Kyauktan they were given shelter in a community hall. The stateless minority face widespread persecution in Myanmar, and more than 120,000 are forced to live in camps in Rakhine state after intercommunal violence erupted between them and ethnic Rakhine in 2012.

Housed under grim conditions, the Rohingya - who have been denied citizenship in Myanmar - have no freedom of movement and a lack of access to education and healthcare.

Eilia said they had left their camps because of the lack of food.

“The food rations they give us are not enough,” he said. “We were told we would get jobs and be able to eat if we went (to Malaysia).”

A camp leader from Sittwe confirmed that the group had departed two weeks earlier.

“They left 15 days ago trying to get to Malaysia,” Kyaw Tin told AFP. “They left secretly... We only found out when they had a problem, about three days ago.”

More than 720,000 Rohingya have fled Rakhine state for Bangladesh after a brutal crackdown by the Myanmar military in August 2017.

Those who fled to overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh brought with them accounts of rape, extrajudicial murders and arson perpetrated by the military.

The two governments signed a repatriation pact last year, which was due to begin on Thursday. Myanmar said they were ready to receive more than 2,200 Rohingya back to resettlement camps.

But none have taken up the offer, with many citing fears without guarantees of safety and citizenship.

UNHCR spokesperson Aoife McDonnell said “concrete progress” was needed for the stateless community to enjoy basic rights in Rakhine state.

“With the prospect of boat movements increasing following the end of the monsoon season, it is increasingly urgent for the authorities to take measures to address the root causes of displacement,” McDonnell said.

UN investigators have urged the International Criminal Court to open a case against Myanmar’s military for “genocide” against the Rohingya - a damning charge the army and government denies, insisting that the security clearances were justified to tamp down Rohingya terrorists.</s>COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) — Normal life returned to a Rohingya Muslim refugee camp in Bangladesh on Friday, a day after government authorities postponed plans to begin repatriating residents to Myanmar when no one volunteered to go.

United Nations officials and international aid agencies praised the government of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who hopes to retain power in elections next month, for upholding a commitment not to force the repatriation.

Hasina has repeatedly discussed the toll on Bangladesh of hosting more than a million Rohingya — including more than 700,000 who fled military-led violence in Myanmar since August 2017 and tens of thousands of others who escaped previous bouts of violence and persecution.

Residents of Cox's Bazar district often complain that they have been undercut by refugees willing to work illegally for lower wages. Thousands of acres (hectares) of national forests usually roamed by wild elephants have been taken over by the cramped and unsanitary camps.

But Hasina's decision not to force the repatriation is unlikely to hurt her bid to win a third term in December, according to Pinak Chakravarty, India's former ambassador to Bangladesh and a fellow with the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.

"The people of Bangladesh are sympathetic to the plight of the Rohingya. Apart from the fact that they're refugees, they're fellow Muslims. She understands that these feelings are strong, and that is why I think she would not force anyone to go," he said.

As it became apparent that refugees were unlikely be sent back, tensions eased in the camps. The checkpoints at the entrance to Unchiprang, one of the refugee camps near the city of Cox's Bazar, were temporarily left unguarded on Friday morning as about 500 people crowded into a mosque for Friday prayers.

One of the imams, Abdul Hakim, told the devotees that the government could not force Rohingya to go back without Myanmar guaranteeing them protection and civil rights, to which they raised their hands and replied, "Amen."

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh from western Myanmar's Rakhine state since last year to escape killings and destruction of their villages by the military and Buddhist vigilantes that have drawn widespread condemnation of Myanmar.

Bangladesh's refugee commission had planned to begin a voluntary repatriation process under a United Nations-brokered deal with Myanmar by escorting about 150 refugees across the border on Thursday, despite calls by U.N. officials, Human Rights Watch and others to wait until the Rohingya's safety in Myanmar could be assured.

U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said earlier this week that the agency continues to receive reports of ongoing violations of the rights of Rohingya remaining in Rakhine, including "allegations of killings, disappearances and arbitrary arrests," as well as widespread restrictions on freedom of movement, health and education.

Fearful of returning home, some people on Bangladesh's repatriation list left their shanties and disappeared into other camps.

After a demonstration involving about 1,000 Rohingya broke out at Unchiprang, Refugee Commissioner Abul Kalam said plans had been shelved because no refugees were willing to return.

Kalam did not immediately return calls and messages on Friday, and it was unclear when the process would begin again.

Nabi Hossain, 45, left his shanty at Unchiprang camp late Wednesday with his wife, Jamila Begum, and six other family members after noticing extra security at the camp.

"We heard they will come and take us. We were in a panic," Hossain said, adding that the family slept outside and didn't eat much because they didn't want a cooking fire to attract attention.

They returned Thursday after hearing about the protest.

"If they allow us to have our rights, our citizenship, we want to go. But if we are forced, if our rights are not given, it is better to crush us under the wheels of cars or be thrown in a river," Hossain said.

Not everyone who fled Unchiprang has returned.

Johara, 30, a mother of five, said her husband left five days ago with their 6-year-old daughter, who was traumatized after witnessing Myanmar soldiers ransack their home village.

"My daughter is terrified. She told her father to take her with him," she said.

Johara, who goes by one name, said her husband left to find his parents at another camp after she gave an interview to aid workers, and the family found out they were on the government's repatriation list.

While Johara waited for her husband and daughter to return, activity at Unchiprang returned to normal, with little sign of the aid workers, journalists or government officials who had swarmed the camp earlier in the week.

Even as refugees in Bangladesh protested against repatriation, concerns grew that another Rohingya exodus from Myanmar by sea may be in the works.

Authorities in Myanmar arrested 106 people, believed to be Rohingya, whose boat drifted to shore Friday morning in Kyauktan township, south of Yangon, during what they said was an effort to sail to Malaysia.

One of the people detained, who did not give his name, told reporters that the group came from a displacement camp for Rohingya near Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine. He said the group departed on Oct. 25, and one passenger, a 20-year-old woman, had died of hunger.

The boat drifted to shore after they decided to return to Rakhine because of the lack of supplies and tried to turn it around, he said.

Sittwe is a frequent exit point for Rohingya seeking to make the dangerous and illegal voyage by sea to Malaysia, which is a Muslim majority country which generally tolerates their arrival.

In 2015, a mass of such journeys caused a regional crisis, especially as the policy of some nations, especially Thailand, was to turn away the boats, even when those aboard were in desperate circumstances. Unknown hundreds of refugees are believed to have perished at sea. Several boats made the same voyage in April this year.

Another boat believed to be carrying Rohingya refugees was sighted Friday near Indonesia.

Muhammad Nasir, who heads a disaster mitigation office in the northern part of Indonesia's Sumatra island, said fishermen reported seeing a wooden boat carrying about 80 people believed to be Rohingyas.

Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said Friday that the continued Rohingya flight from Myanmar shows that Bangladesh's repatriation plans should remain shelved.

"Myanmar might claim that it is ready to receive the refugees, but the truth is that the conditions are not safe, and the Rohingya cannot make a decision about voluntary returns until human rights protections are guaranteed with international monitoring, and there is accountability for the horrible abuses by the military," she said.

Associated Press journalist Min Kyi Thein in Kyauktan, Myanmar, contributed to this report.</s>COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) — Normal life returned to a Rohingya Muslim refugee camp in Bangladesh on Friday, a day after government authorities postponed plans to begin repatriating residents to Myanmar when no one volunteered to go.

United Nations officials and international aid agencies praised the government of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who hopes to retain power in elections next month, for upholding a commitment not to force the repatriation.

Hasina has repeatedly discussed the toll on Bangladesh of hosting more than a million Rohingya — including more than 700,000 who fled military-led violence in Myanmar since August 2017 and tens of thousands of others who escaped previous bouts of violence and persecution.

Residents of Cox's Bazar district often complain that they have been undercut by refugees willing to work illegally for lower wages. Thousands of acres (hectares) of national forests usually roamed by wild elephants have been taken over by the cramped and unsanitary camps.

But Hasina's decision not to force the repatriation is unlikely to hurt her bid to win a third term in December, according to Pinak Chakravarty, India's former ambassador to Bangladesh and a fellow with the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.

"The people of Bangladesh are sympathetic to the plight of the Rohingya. Apart from the fact that they're refugees, they're fellow Muslims. She understands that these feelings are strong, and that is why I think she would not force anyone to go," he said.

As it became apparent that refugees were unlikely be sent back, tensions eased in the camps. The checkpoints at the entrance to Unchiprang, one of the refugee camps near the city of Cox's Bazar, were temporarily left unguarded on Friday morning as about 500 people crowded into a mosque for Friday prayers.

One of the imams, Abdul Hakim, told the devotees that the government could not force Rohingya to go back without Myanmar guaranteeing them protection and civil rights, to which they raised their hands and replied, "Amen."

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh from western Myanmar's Rakhine state since last year to escape killings and destruction of their villages by the military and Buddhist vigilantes that have drawn widespread condemnation of Myanmar.

Bangladesh's refugee commission had planned to begin a voluntary repatriation process under a United Nations-brokered deal with Myanmar by escorting about 150 refugees across the border on Thursday, despite calls by U.N. officials, Human Rights Watch and others to wait until the Rohingya's safety in Myanmar could be assured.

U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said earlier this week that the agency continues to receive reports of ongoing violations of the rights of Rohingya remaining in Rakhine, including "allegations of killings, disappearances and arbitrary arrests," as well as widespread restrictions on freedom of movement, health and education.

Fearful of returning home, some people on Bangladesh's repatriation list left their shanties and disappeared into other camps.

After a demonstration involving about 1,000 Rohingya broke out at Unchiprang, Refugee Commissioner Abul Kalam said plans had been shelved because no refugees were willing to return.

Kalam did not immediately return calls and messages on Friday, and it was unclear when the process would begin again.

Nabi Hossain, 45, left his shanty at Unchiprang camp late Wednesday with his wife, Jamila Begum, and six other family members after noticing extra security at the camp.

"We heard they will come and take us. We were in a panic," Hossain said, adding that the family slept outside and didn't eat much because they didn't want a cooking fire to attract attention.

They returned Thursday after hearing about the protest.

"If they allow us to have our rights, our citizenship, we want to go. But if we are forced, if our rights are not given, it is better to crush us under the wheels of cars or be thrown in a river," Hossain said.

Not everyone who fled Unchiprang has returned.

Johara, 30, a mother of five, said her husband left five days ago with their 6-year-old daughter, who was traumatized after witnessing Myanmar soldiers ransack their home village.

"My daughter is terrified. She told her father to take her with him," she said.

Johara, who goes by one name, said her husband left to find his parents at another camp after she gave an interview to aid workers, and the family found out they were on the government's repatriation list.

While Johara waited for her husband and daughter to return, activity at Unchiprang returned to normal, with little sign of the aid workers, journalists or government officials who had swarmed the camp earlier in the week.

Even as refugees in Bangladesh protested against repatriation, concerns grew that another Rohingya exodus from Myanmar by sea may be in the works.

Authorities in Myanmar arrested 106 people, believed to be Rohingya, whose boat drifted to shore Friday morning in Kyauktan township, south of Yangon, during what they said was an effort to sail to Malaysia.

One of the people detained, who did not give his name, told reporters that the group came from a displacement camp for Rohingya near Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine. He said the group departed on Oct. 25, and one passenger, a 20-year-old woman, had died of hunger.

The boat drifted to shore after they decided to return to Rakhine because of the lack of supplies and tried to turn it around, he said.

Sittwe is a frequent exit point for Rohingya seeking to make the dangerous and illegal voyage by sea to Malaysia, which is a Muslim majority country which generally tolerates their arrival.

In 2015, a mass of such journeys caused a regional crisis, especially as the policy of some nations, especially Thailand, was to turn away the boats, even when those aboard were in desperate circumstances. Unknown hundreds of refugees are believed to have perished at sea. Several boats made the same voyage in April this year.

Another boat believed to be carrying Rohingya refugees was sighted Friday near Indonesia.

Muhammad Nasir, who heads a disaster mitigation office in the northern part of Indonesia's Sumatra island, said fishermen reported seeing a wooden boat carrying about 80 people believed to be Rohingyas.

Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said Friday that the continued Rohingya flight from Myanmar shows that Bangladesh's repatriation plans should remain shelved.

"Myanmar might claim that it is ready to receive the refugees, but the truth is that the conditions are not safe, and the Rohingya cannot make a decision about voluntary returns until human rights protections are guaranteed with international monitoring, and there is accountability for the horrible abuses by the military," she said.

Associated Press journalist Min Kyi Thein in Kyauktan, Myanmar, contributed to this report.</s>COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) — Normal life returned to a Rohingya Muslim refugee camp in Bangladesh on Friday, a day after government authorities postponed plans to begin repatriating residents to Myanmar when no one volunteered to go.

United Nations officials and international aid agencies praised the government of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who hopes to retain power in elections next month, for upholding a commitment not to force the repatriation.

Hasina has repeatedly discussed the toll on Bangladesh of hosting more than a million Rohingya — including more than 700,000 who fled military-led violence in Myanmar since August 2017 and tens of thousands of others who escaped previous bouts of violence and persecution.

Residents of Cox's Bazar district often complain that they have been undercut by refugees willing to work illegally for lower wages. Thousands of acres (hectares) of national forests usually roamed by wild elephants have been taken over by the cramped and unsanitary camps.

But Hasina's decision not to force the repatriation is unlikely to hurt her bid to win a third term in December, according to Pinak Chakravarty, India's former ambassador to Bangladesh and a fellow with the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.

"The people of Bangladesh are sympathetic to the plight of the Rohingya. Apart from the fact that they're refugees, they're fellow Muslims. She understands that these feelings are strong, and that is why I think she would not force anyone to go," he said.

As it became apparent that refugees were unlikely be sent back, tensions eased in the camps. The checkpoints at the entrance to Unchiprang, one of the refugee camps near the city of Cox's Bazar, were temporarily left unguarded on Friday morning as about 500 people crowded into a mosque for Friday prayers.

One of the imams, Abdul Hakim, told the devotees that the government could not force Rohingya to go back without Myanmar guaranteeing them protection and civil rights, to which they raised their hands and replied, "Amen."

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh from western Myanmar's Rakhine state since last year to escape killings and destruction of their villages by the military and Buddhist vigilantes that have drawn widespread condemnation of Myanmar.

Bangladesh's refugee commission had planned to begin a voluntary repatriation process under a United Nations-brokered deal with Myanmar by escorting about 150 refugees across the border on Thursday, despite calls by U.N. officials, Human Rights Watch and others to wait until the Rohingya's safety in Myanmar could be assured.

U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said earlier this week that the agency continues to receive reports of ongoing violations of the rights of Rohingya remaining in Rakhine, including "allegations of killings, disappearances and arbitrary arrests," as well as widespread restrictions on freedom of movement, health and education.

Fearful of returning home, some people on Bangladesh's repatriation list left their shanties and disappeared into other camps.

After a demonstration involving about 1,000 Rohingya broke out at Unchiprang, Refugee Commissioner Abul Kalam said plans had been shelved because no refugees were willing to return.

Kalam did not immediately return calls and messages on Friday, and it was unclear when the process would begin again.

Nabi Hossain, 45, left his shanty at Unchiprang camp late Wednesday with his wife, Jamila Begum, and six other family members after noticing extra security at the camp.

"We heard they will come and take us. We were in a panic," Hossain said, adding that the family slept outside and didn't eat much because they didn't want a cooking fire to attract attention.

They returned Thursday after hearing about the protest.

"If they allow us to have our rights, our citizenship, we want to go. But if we are forced, if our rights are not given, it is better to crush us under the wheels of cars or be thrown in a river," Hossain said.

Not everyone who fled Unchiprang has returned.

Johara, 30, a mother of five, said her husband left five days ago with their 6-year-old daughter, who was traumatized after witnessing Myanmar soldiers ransack their home village.

"My daughter is terrified. She told her father to take her with him," she said.

Johara, who goes by one name, said her husband left to find his parents at another camp after she gave an interview to aid workers, and the family found out they were on the government's repatriation list.

While Johara waited for her husband and daughter to return, activity at Unchiprang returned to normal, with little sign of the aid workers, journalists or government officials who had swarmed the camp earlier in the week.

Even as refugees in Bangladesh protested against repatriation, concerns grew that another Rohingya exodus from Myanmar by sea may be in the works.

Authorities in Myanmar arrested 106 people, believed to be Rohingya, whose boat drifted to shore Friday morning in Kyauktan township, south of Yangon, during what they said was an effort to sail to Malaysia.

One of the people detained, who did not give his name, told reporters that the group came from a displacement camp for Rohingya near Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine. He said the group departed on Oct. 25, and one passenger, a 20-year-old woman, had died of hunger.

The boat drifted to shore after they decided to return to Rakhine because of the lack of supplies and tried to turn it around, he said.

Sittwe is a frequent exit point for Rohingya seeking to make the dangerous and illegal voyage by sea to Malaysia, which is a Muslim majority country which generally tolerates their arrival.

In 2015, a mass of such journeys caused a regional crisis, especially as the policy of some nations, especially Thailand, was to turn away the boats, even when those aboard were in desperate circumstances. Unknown hundreds of refugees are believed to have perished at sea. Several boats made the same voyage in April this year.

Another boat believed to be carrying Rohingya refugees was sighted Friday near Indonesia.

Muhammad Nasir, who heads a disaster mitigation office in the northern part of Indonesia's Sumatra island, said fishermen reported seeing a wooden boat carrying about 80 people believed to be Rohingyas.

Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said Friday that the continued Rohingya flight from Myanmar shows that Bangladesh's repatriation plans should remain shelved.

"Myanmar might claim that it is ready to receive the refugees, but the truth is that the conditions are not safe, and the Rohingya cannot make a decision about voluntary returns until human rights protections are guaranteed with international monitoring, and there is accountability for the horrible abuses by the military," she said.

Associated Press journalist Min Kyi Thein in Kyauktan, Myanmar, contributed to this report.</s>U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Myanmar on Tuesday that the world is very concerned about the tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees who have been living for more than four years in camps in northern Rakhine state after fleeing violence from the Buddhist majority.

"They deserve hope," Ban said at a joint news conference with Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "All of Myanmar's people, of every ethnicity and background, should be able to live in equality and harmony, side by side with their neighbors."

Ban is in Myanmar to attend peace talks aimed at ending half a century of conflict between the government and the country's many armed ethnic minority groups. The talks begin Wednesday in Naypyitaw, the capital. About 2,000 delegates and guests are expected to attend the opening ceremony.

Suu Kyi, who leads Myanmar with the title of state counselor and is also foreign minister, said, "We are doing what we can to make sure that all groups can attend, but to attend or not is up to them."

Ban also said there is a "heightened expectation" of faster progress under Suu Kyi's leadership on issues facing the country, and that the international community and Myanmar's government should work together to overcome them.

He spoke of the country's remarkable journey from military dictatorship toward democracy, but warned too of the many challenges Myanmar faces, including the plight of the Rohingya Muslims.

More than 100,000 Rohingya have been living in unsanitary camps since fleeing their homes in Rakhine state starting in 2012, following deadly violence driven largely by Buddhist mobs. Many Buddhists view Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, even though many have been living in Myanmar for generations.

Even the word "Rohingya" is extremely controversial in Myanmar, though Ban used it without hesitation during the brief news conference. Suu Kyi's government has said it would rather that the term "Muslims in Rakhine" be used.

While saying he understood the need for patience in tackling the problem, Ban reiterated that the international community is concerned about the Rohingya's situation. He commended the government for setting up a special advisory commission on the situation in Rakhine state that will be chaired by Ban's predecessor, Kofi Annan. It is to convene for the first time next week in Yangon.

This is Ban's fifth visit to Myanmar.</s>COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) - Bangladesh authorities said they are ready to begin repatriating some of the more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled from army-led violence in Myanmar since last year. But refugees scheduled to leave said they would refuse to go because of fears for their safety.

Some said their families have fled from their shanties in the refugee camps to avoid being sent back. The situation remained tense in camps overnight.

Refugees, Repatriation and Rehabilitation Commissioner Abul Kalam said earlier Wednesday that 30 refugee families would be handed over Thursday at the Ghumdhum border point near Cox's Bazar, where refugees have been living in crammed camps.

But by late Wednesday, confusion grew over whether it would start.

Kalam said late Wednesday that they discussed the situation with the U.N.'s refugee agency, which gave a report after discussion with the refugees who are on the list. The U.N. does not want the government to send the refugees back under current circumstances.

Details of the repot were not shared, but Kalam said they wanted to be "hopeful" in beginning the repatriation on Thursday.

Rohingya Muslims Nurul Amin, 35, left, and Mohammed Selim, 23, whose names are on the first list to be repatriated back to Myanmar, talk to the Associated Press outside Jamtoli refugee camp, in Bangladesh, Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018. Bangladesh authorities said they are ready to begin repatriating some of the more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled from army-led violence in Myanmar since last year, but refugees scheduled to leave said they would refuse to go because of fears for their safety. "I will not go. My wife and other family members have gone elsewhere, they do not want to go," Amin told The Associated Press. Selim said his wife and seven other family members went into hiding after finding out that they would be sent back Thursday. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

"We hope we will be able to confirm tomorrow morning (Thursday) how many we are taking," he said.

The two countries had originally agreed to begin repatriating Rohingya to Rakhine State last January, but that was called off amid concerns among aid workers and the Rohingya that their safety wasn't guaranteed.

Kalam said about 2,260 refugees from 485 families would be sent back in an initial group. Myanmar officials said recently that they would receive 150 refugees each day.

But it was unclear whether the repatriation would begin smoothly amid reports that many of the refugees on the initial list have fled.

"I will not go. My wife and other family members have gone elsewhere, they do not want to go," 35-year-old Nurul Amin told The Associated Press outside the Jamtoli camp, where he and his family have been living for more than a year.

"I stayed back to guard my valuables," he said. "If you say you will shoot us if we do not agree to go back, we will welcome bullets, we still will not go."

Mohammed Selim, 23, said his wife and seven other family members went into hiding after finding out that they would be sent back.

"We are grateful to the Bangladesh government, the Bangladeshi people for their help. Please do not force us to go," he said.

"If we need to go, we demand that we go back to our homes, not to any camps there. We have our land, we have our homes," he said.

On Sunday, the Myanmar government said it was ready to welcome returning refugees.

It said returning Rohingya would stay at repatriation camps for two days and receive food and clothing before moving on to transit camps. It said China, India and Japan were "providing necessary assistance" for the repatriation process.

Despite the promises by Myanmar, human rights activists say conditions are not yet safe for their return.

Last week, the U.N.'s independent investigator for human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, called the plans "rushed" and said she was concerned there were no guarantees that the refugees would be protected from new persecution if they return home.

The International Committee of the Red Cross is one of the few humanitarian organizations operating in Rakhine state. Its U.N. observer, Robert Mardini, said Wednesday that conditions are not right for Rohingya refugees to return.

He told several reporters that the conflict between the Rohingya and Myanmar's government is not resolved, and "so many" Rohingya villages in northern Rakhine are flattened that there is no place to go back to.

"We still believe that the conditions are not right for voluntary, safe, dignified returns, and our concerns are for people to be able to move freely, to be safe and secure, and have a normal life," Mardini said. "Nobody can claim today that the security in Rakhine is so well established that people can return safely."

Foreign leaders have criticized Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi this week on the sidelines of a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Singapore for her handling of the Rohingya crisis.

Rohingya began fleeing into Bangladesh after Myanmar security forces launched a brutal crackdown following attacks by an insurgent group on guard posts in August 2017. The scale, organization and ferocity of the operation led to accusations from the international community, including the United Nations, of ethnic cleansing and even genocide. Myanmar's government has denied the accusations.

Myanmar officials said Sunday that returnees can get an ID document called a national verification card that will allow them to travel in the Maungdaw area of Rakhine state, and that they can then begin to apply for citizenship.

But there is widespread skepticism that any of returning refugees will ever be granted citizenship.

Most people in Buddhist-majority Myanmar do not accept that the Rohingya Muslims are a native ethnic group. They are viewed as "Bengalis" who entered illegally from Bangladesh, even though generations of Rohingya have lived in Myanmar. Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless. They have also been denied freedom of movement and other basic rights.

Many people who fled earlier violence and moved into displacement camps inside Myanmar have been unable to leave those settlements for years.

Most Rohingya have lived in poverty in Rakhine, near the Bangladesh border. Marked by their religion and their language - most speak a dialect of Bengali, while most of their neighbors speak Rakhine - they are easy to target.

Associated Press writer Tofayel Ahmad in Cox's Bazar and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.</s>COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) — Normal life returned to a Rohingya Muslim refugee camp in Bangladesh on Friday, a day after government authorities postponed plans to begin repatriating residents to Myanmar when no one volunteered to go.

United Nations officials and international aid agencies praised the government of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who hopes to retain power in elections next month, for upholding a commitment not to force the repatriation.

Hasina has repeatedly discussed the toll on Bangladesh of hosting more than a million Rohingya — including more than 700,000 who fled military-led violence in Myanmar since August 2017 and tens of thousands of others who escaped previous bouts of violence and persecution.

Residents of Cox's Bazar district often complain that they have been undercut by refugees willing to work illegally for lower wages. Thousands of acres (hectares) of national forests usually roamed by wild elephants have been taken over by the cramped and unsanitary camps.

But Hasina's decision not to force the repatriation is unlikely to hurt her bid to win a third term in December, according to Pinak Chakravarty, India's former ambassador to Bangladesh and a fellow with the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.

"The people of Bangladesh are sympathetic to the plight of the Rohingya. Apart from the fact that they're refugees, they're fellow Muslims. She understands that these feelings are strong, and that is why I think she would not force anyone to go," he said.

As it became apparent that refugees were unlikely be sent back, tensions eased in the camps. The checkpoints at the entrance to Unchiprang, one of the refugee camps near the city of Cox's Bazar, were temporarily left unguarded on Friday morning as about 500 people crowded into a mosque for Friday prayers.

One of the imams, Abdul Hakim, told the devotees that the government could not force Rohingya to go back without Myanmar guaranteeing them protection and civil rights, to which they raised their hands and replied, "Amen."

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh from western Myanmar's Rakhine state since last year to escape killings and destruction of their villages by the military and Buddhist vigilantes that have drawn widespread condemnation of Myanmar.

Bangladesh's refugee commission had planned to begin a voluntary repatriation process under a United Nations-brokered deal with Myanmar by escorting about 150 refugees across the border on Thursday, despite calls by U.N. officials, Human Rights Watch and others to wait until the Rohingya's safety in Myanmar could be assured.

U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said earlier this week that the agency continues to receive reports of ongoing violations of the rights of Rohingya remaining in Rakhine, including "allegations of killings, disappearances and arbitrary arrests," as well as widespread restrictions on freedom of movement, health and education.

Fearful of returning home, some people on Bangladesh's repatriation list left their shanties and disappeared into other camps.

After a demonstration involving about 1,000 Rohingya broke out at Unchiprang, Refugee Commissioner Abul Kalam said plans had been shelved because no refugees were willing to return.

Kalam did not immediately return calls and messages on Friday, and it was unclear when the process would begin again.

Nabi Hossain, 45, left his shanty at Unchiprang camp late Wednesday with his wife, Jamila Begum, and six other family members after noticing extra security at the camp.

"We heard they will come and take us. We were in a panic," Hossain said, adding that the family slept outside and didn't eat much because they didn't want a cooking fire to attract attention.

They returned Thursday after hearing about the protest.

"If they allow us to have our rights, our citizenship, we want to go. But if we are forced, if our rights are not given, it is better to crush us under the wheels of cars or be thrown in a river," Hossain said.

Not everyone who fled Unchiprang has returned.

Johara, 30, a mother of five, said her husband left five days ago with their 6-year-old daughter, who was traumatized after witnessing Myanmar soldiers ransack their home village.

"My daughter is terrified. She told her father to take her with him," she said.

Johara, who goes by one name, said her husband left to find his parents at another camp after she gave an interview to aid workers, and the family found out they were on the government's repatriation list.

While Johara waited for her husband and daughter to return, activity at Unchiprang returned to normal, with little sign of the aid workers, journalists or government officials who had swarmed the camp earlier in the week.

Even as refugees in Bangladesh protested against repatriation, concerns grew that another Rohingya exodus from Myanmar by sea may be in the works.

Authorities in Myanmar arrested 106 people, believed to be Rohingya, whose boat drifted to shore Friday morning in Kyauktan township, south of Yangon, during what they said was an effort to sail to Malaysia.

One of the people detained, who did not give his name, told reporters that the group came from a displacement camp for Rohingya near Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine. He said the group departed on Oct. 25, and one passenger, a 20-year-old woman, had died of hunger.

The boat drifted to shore after they decided to return to Rakhine because of the lack of supplies and tried to turn it around, he said.

Sittwe is a frequent exit point for Rohingya seeking to make the dangerous and illegal voyage by sea to Malaysia, which is a Muslim majority country which generally tolerates their arrival.

In 2015, a mass of such journeys caused a regional crisis, especially as the policy of some nations, especially Thailand, was to turn away the boats, even when those aboard were in desperate circumstances. Unknown hundreds of refugees are believed to have perished at sea. Several boats made the same voyage in April this year.

Another boat believed to be carrying Rohingya refugees was sighted Friday near Indonesia.

Muhammad Nasir, who heads a disaster mitigation office in the northern part of Indonesia's Sumatra island, said fishermen reported seeing a wooden boat carrying about 80 people believed to be Rohingyas.

Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said Friday that the continued Rohingya flight from Myanmar shows that Bangladesh's repatriation plans should remain shelved.

"Myanmar might claim that it is ready to receive the refugees, but the truth is that the conditions are not safe, and the Rohingya cannot make a decision about voluntary returns until human rights protections are guaranteed with international monitoring, and there is accountability for the horrible abuses by the military," she said.

Associated Press journalist Min Kyi Thein in Kyauktan, Myanmar, contributed to this report.</s>COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh/YANGON (Reuters) - Hundreds of Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh protested on Thursday against any attempt to send them back to Myanmar after the launch of a repatriation plan was postponed.

Bangladesh had begun preparations to repatriate an initial batch of 2,200 Rohingya to Myanmar on Thursday, in line with a plan agreed with Myanmar in October, but by late afternoon no refugees had been moved back across the border, Myanmar officials said.

There have been extensive doubts about the plan and it has been opposed by the U.N. refugee agency and aid groups, who fear for the safety of the Rohingya in Myanmar, and by many Rohingya in camps in Bangladesh.

“No, no, we won’t go,” hundreds of Rohingya protesters chanted in the Unchiprang camp in southeast Bangladesh, near the Myanmar border.

Some protesters also waved placards that said “We want justice” and “We will never return to Myanmar without our citizenship”.

More than 700,000 Rohingya fled a sweeping army crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state last year, according to U.N. agencies, launched in response to Rohingya insurgent attacks on the security forces.

The Rohingya refugees say soldiers and Buddhist civilians massacred families, burned hundreds of villages and carried out gang rapes. U.N-mandated investigators have accused the Myanmar army of “genocidal intent” and ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar denies almost all of the accusations, saying its security forces have been engaged in a counter-insurgency operation against “terrorists”.

Myanmar blamed Bangladesh for failing to supply returnees but said it was still ready to accept them.

“Bangladesh side didn’t transfer anyone until now. To be honest, Bangladesh is weak in following the physical arrangement,” said Myint Thu, permanent secretary at Myanmar’s foreign affairs ministry, at a media briefing.

Unverified images on social media showed officials on the Myanmar side of the border waiting at a reception centre.

“We will accept them according to the agreement signed by the two countries. Whether they come back or not is their own decision.”

Earlier, three sources directly briefed on the issue, said repatriation would not begin on Thursday as none of those selected to go back had agreed.

“Nobody wants to go back,” said one of the sources.

The repatriation of a first group was to have begun on Thursday.

But Bangladesh has vowed not to force anyone to return and it has asked the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to make sure those short-listed to return really want to go back.

U.N. rights boss Michelle Bachelet called on Bangladesh on Tuesday to halt the repatriation plan, warning that lives would be put at “serious risk”.

The U.N. human rights office continued to receive reports of ongoing violations committed against Rohingya in Myanmar - including alleged killings, disappearances and arbitrary arrests, Bachelet said.

Myanmar does not consider the Rohingya a native ethnic group and most are stateless. Many in the Buddhist-majority country call the Rohingya “Bengalis”, suggesting they belong in Bangladesh.
Immigration officials from Myanmar intercept a boat of Rohingya refugees 30 km (18.6 mi) off the coast of Yangon, and arrest all 106 passengers. The boat was en route to Malaysia, after setting off from Sittwe, Rakhine State, with human smugglers and Rohingyas fleeing persecution.