Rohingya still fleeing Myanmar despite repatriation deal

Rohingya are still fleeing into Bangladesh even after an agreement was signed with Myanmar to repatriate hundreds of thousands of the Muslim minority displaced along the border, officials said on Monday.

The arrangement struck by the neighbours on Thursday raised the prospect of at least 700,000 Rohingya Muslims living in overcrowded camps in southeastern Bangladesh being returned to Myanmar.

But at least 3,000 refugees have crossed since then, the United Nations said in its latest report on the crisis, with guards at check-posts along the frontier also reporting a largely uninterrupted flow of newcomers.

“The number of arrivals has declined, but it has not stopped,” Bangladesh border guard commander Lieutenant Colonel SM Ariful Islam said.

Islam said at least 400 refugees had passed by guards under his command along the border with Myanmar since the agreement was signed.

An estimated 624,000 Rohingya have fled a military crackdown in Myanmar since August described by UN and US authorities as ethnic cleansing.

The repatriation agreement applies to Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh who fled Myanmar in two major outbreaks of violence since October 2016.