MUSLIMS FLEE WEST BURMA

[shar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

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MUSLIMS FLEE WEST BURMA
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Dhaka,   May 9:  At least 500  Muslims fled food shortages in western
Burma  and crossed into Bangladesh during the last week,  a dissident
group said.

Several  thousand Muslims, known as Rohingyas, are preparing to leave
their  homes in  the rugged hills  of the Arakan  province,  said the
Rohingya Solidarity Organization in a statement on Friday. Bangladesh
officials denied any influx of Burmese Muslims.

"We  have not sighted any new refugees  from Burma," said Mr Ali Imam
Majumder, the region's chief government administrator. Reports of new
arrivals  came as Bangladesh  asked Burma to  take back nearly 22,000
Rohingya   refugees   who  are   living   in  camps   in  Bangladesh.

Mr Majunder said officials from Bangladesh and Burma are scheduled to
meet  on May 13 in the Burmese  frontier town of Mauungdwe to discuss
the new schedule of repatriation.

More  than 251,000 Rohingya Muslims  flooded into Bangladesh from the
Arakan district in 1991-92, accusing the Burmese Army of conscripting
them   for   unpaid  labor   and  of   killings,   rape   and  arson.

Some  229,000  refugees  had returned  home  by  April as  part  of a
tripartite  repatriation accord signed by  Bangladesh,  Burma and the
United Nations' High Commissioner for Refugees. (AP)

The Asian Age 10 May 1997

News and Information Bureau All Burma Students League.      ABSL

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