A Rohingya refugee puts up a blanket for drying at Balukhali refugee camp 50 kilometres (32 miles) from, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018. Myanmar says it's ready for a gradual repatriation of Muslim Rohingya refugees chased out by the Buddhist-majority country's military. Bangladesh says it's preparing for the transfer, but it might need more time as more than 680,000 Rohingya Muslims are now living in sprawling and squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

 Manish Swarup

TAUNGPYO, Myanmar (AP) — Workers were laying bricks, digging ditches and drilling holes for building frames at a temporary camp in Myanmar where Rohingya Muslims would stay when they return from Bangladesh refugee camps.

Journalists were allowed to watch the work at the transition camp being prepared for the refugees Wednesday but saw no sign of the nearly 700,000 Rohingya chased out by Myanmar security forces and Buddhist mobs since August.

Myanmar says it's ready for a gradual repatriation. Bangladesh says it needs more time to prepare for the transfer.

Rohingya in Bangladesh are frightened of returning and say they haven't seen any evidence Myanmar is preparing for them to return safely to their burned-out home villages in Rakhine state.

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