Rohingya refugees on Tuesday held a rally in Ukhiya upazila of Cox's Bazar demanding safe repatriation to their villages in Myanmar with citizenship, saying they do not want to stay in Bangladesh.
The rally was held at Ukhiya Lambashia Camp No 1 on the occasion of World Refugee Day.
Thousands of Rohingyas joined the rally voicing various demands and slogans. Rohingya children also joined the rally wearing Myanmar school uniforms.
Rohingya leaders said at the rally that they came to Bangladesh not willingly, but to save their lives as victims of genocide. They do not want to stay in the country for a moment.
They said they do not want this kind of life and wish to go back to Myanmar. They added that they are drawing the attention of the international community so that Myanmar is forced to meet their demands.
Leaders of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH) as well as Rohingya refugees Md Rafiq, Md Kamal and others addressed the rally.
Kamal said: “We want to return to our country with our rights. We do not want such a refugee life anymore. We want to go to our country and spend the rest of our lives there. We are citizens of Myanmar, not Bangladesh. We will return only if we get Myanmar citizenship, recognition and the land in our village.”
He said World Refugee Day comes every year but the fate of the Rohingyas is not changing. “May today be the last refugee day.”
Md Rafiq said people in all countries of the world want to live freely in their homeland.
“We, the Rohingyas, also have land where our ancestors were buried - we want to stay there. I do not want to spend the rest of my life like this. The international community should take the initiative; we want to return to our country, that is our only demand.”
Syed Harun-or-Rashid, additional deputy inspector general at APBn-14, said that the Rohingyas gathered at two places on the occasion of World Refugee Day in the camp. More than 5,000 Rohingyas participated there. No untoward incident occurred anywhere. Their rally ended peacefully.
At the rally, they demanded to go back to their native country Myanmar, he said.