Rogingyas living in camps at Cox’s Bazar’s Ukhiya demonstrated on Saturday, which marks a year of the military crackdown in Myanmar forcing hundreds of thousands to flee.
They demanded dignified return to their homeland and citizenship rights during the two-hour demonstration at the camps.
Rohingya leaders in Kutupalong, Balukhali and Madhurchara camps said, they were subjected to indiscriminate killings, rape and barbaric torture by the Myanmar army and hardliner civilians.
“We were forced to flee to Bangladesh to save our lives. Although a year has passed, the international community couldn’t bring about any solution. We want to go back to our homeland Myanmar in a dignified way with citizenship and other facilities ensured,” they said.
Mohaammad Abu Taher, a Rohingya leader in the Kutupalong camp said, “We are protesting peacefully within our block since morning. At least this will bring some peace of mind.”
“We want our rights back and we want to return to our land,” he added.
Another Rohingya leader Md. Abu Taher of Kutupalong camp said, “This protest is against Myanmar. We’d like to tell the global community that, we want justice; we want Myanmar to be punished.”
Ukhiya police OC Md Abul Khayer said, “Rohingyas tried to take their protests outside on the (Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf) road. However, they demonstrated inside their camps when we blocked them from going outside.”
No untoward incidents were reported in the two-hour long protests, he said.
With the massive influx last year more than 1.1 million Rohingyas are currently living in refugee camps across Cox’s Bazar.
Rohingyas were stripped of citizenship in an act enacted in 1982 by Myanmar despite living there for generations. Afterwards, they were given different Identification Cards, namely—White Card, NVC and so on. Their identity became shady with time, making them stateless at a point.
This ethnic minority of Myanmar dubbed as the most persecuted community in the world is now awaiting safe repatriation.