COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh authorities said the repatriation of Rohingya Muslims who fled army-led violence in Myanmar will begin as scheduled Thursday if people are willing to go, despite calls from United Nations officials and human rights groups to hold off. Refugee commissioner Abul Kalam told The Associated Press that he and other officials would go to Unchiprang, one of the sprawling refugee camps near the city of Cox’s Bazar, to urge some of the more than 700,000 Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh last year to go back to Myanmar voluntarily. More than 700,000 Rohingya refugees crossed into Bangladesh from western Myanmar’s Rakhine state, U.N. agencies say, after Rohingya insurgent attacks on Myanmar security forces in August 2017 triggered a sweeping military crackdown. No sign of movement at transit camp

Most people in Buddhist-majority Myanmar do not accept that the Rohingya Muslims are a native ethnic group, viewing them as "Bengalis" who entered illegally from Bangladesh, even though generations of Rohingya have lived in Myanmar. Despite assurances from Myanmar, human rights activists said on Nov. 15 the conditions were not yet safe for Rohingya refugees to go back. Amnesty International this week withdrew its most prestigious human rights prize from Suu Kyi, accusing her of perpetuating human rights abuses by not speaking out about violence against the Rohingya. Negotiations for repatriation have been continuing for months, but plans last January to begin sending refugees back to Myanmar's Rakhine state were called off amid concerns among aid workers and Rohingya that their return would be met with violence. Foreign leaders, including U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, have criticized Myanmar’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning 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. “They had a very candid exchange of views on that.”

The White House official said Pence urged Suu Kyi directly to pardon the Reuters journalists “multiple times.”

The official declined to comment on Suu Kyi’s response in the closed-door meeting. The announcement came after about 1,000 Rohingya demonstrated at a camp in Bangladesh against returning to Myanmar, from where hundreds of thousands fled army-led violence last year.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence condemns Myanmar's treatment of Rohingya Muslims and called for Aung San Suu Kyi to pardon Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, the two Reuters journalists imprisoned in the country.