Bangladesh leader visits Rohingya refugees, assures help
UKHIYA, Bangladesh — 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.