Burma & Refugees from Bangladesh

[FreeBurma@xxxxxxx]

Burma suspends refugees' return from Bangladesh

    DHAKA, Oct 7 (Reuter) - Burma has temporarily halted the return of Moslem
refugees from Bangladesh, citing efforts to keep the country free from plague
as the reason, government officials said on Friday. 
    ``Burmese authorities told us on Thursday they believed the returning
Rohingya citizens might be carrying plague or by any means help spread of the
disease,'' said Deputy Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, Raqibuddin
Ahmed. 
    ``We are trying to convince them that the fears are unfounded because no
one in Bangladesh proved to have contracted plague,'' he told reporters at
his office in Cox's Bazar. ``But the Burmese side is adamant about enforcing
a temporary shut down on the repatriation process.'' 
    Officials said more than 81,000 Rohingyas, who fled to southeastern
Bangladesh in early 1992 to escape alleged military persecution in west
Burma's Moslem-dominated Arakan state, have returned home so far. Nearly
170,000 more were still waiting to go back when Rangoon disrupted the
process. 
    Bangladesh has closed all but seven border transit points with India,
where plague has killed at least 52 people. 
    Flights from India, except for a few operated under special agreements,
have been cancelled. Indian ships have been barred from entering Bangladesh
ports and the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation has asked its vessels to avoid
India. 
    ``I suppose the plague has caused a scare far more extensive than the
disease itself,'' said a doctor at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. 
    His comments followed a sudden decision on Thursday by some 12,000
doctors in government hospitals to call off a 16-day-old strike. 
    The high court had earlier ordered a return to work but the Bangladesh
Medical Association (BMA), which organised the strike to press for higher
wages, promotions and new jobs, initially said the doctors would ignore it. 
    ``Yes, we were worried. People were already suffering and they could be
fiercely angry at the striking doctors if plague had actually broken out.'' 
    Conditions in the hospitals were returning to normal on Friday with a
majority of doctors having returned to work. 
    Government sources claimed more than 300 patients had died as a result of
lack of care, and thousands fled hospitals during the strike, which began on
September 11. 
 REUTER


Transmitted: 94-10-07 03:36:50 EDT