Letters | Why forcing the Rohingya to go back to Myanmar will not have a happy ending
- Countries planning to send Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar must understand that the plan is to isolate them in separate settlements
- The United Nations and world leaders must verify information received from the Myanmar government with the Rohingya in the country
We were shocked by the announcement made by Myanmar government officials that the Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh will not be able to claim their land and may find their crops have been harvested and sold by the government. It is ridiculous for the government to benefit from our toil and to rob our land and crops.
We urge the Myanmar government to harvest the crops and send them to the Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh. There are about 45,000 acres of planted rice paddy abandoned by the Rohingya. The Myanmar government would gain millions of dollars from selling that rice.
Meanwhile, the Myanmar government has been creating model villages for the Rohingya. We are against these plans as we are sure that they will be a concentration camp, where we will be denied access to food, clean water, medicine and education. We will perish silently, and without seeing justice done, in these so-called model villages. The Myanmar government has made these plans to eliminate the Rohingya and take over our land and property for their trade and investment.
We urge the UN, world leaders and the international community to intervene urgently to save our lives.
Zafar Ahmad bin Abdul Ghani, president, Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur