Rohingyas' Dream

[FreeBurma@xxxxxxx]

By Anis Ahmed 

TEKNAF, Bangladesh (Reuter) - The rain fell heavily, sending water swirling
down the hills into the cascading Naf River that marks the border between
Bangladesh and Burma's western province of Arakan. 

Winds blowing at 30 mph swept the trees on the hills of Arakan, overlooking
the Naf, and in Bangladesh's Teknaf region, the site of Burmese Muslim
refugee camps. Although their homeland is just on the opposite bank, the
narrow river might as well be a vast gulf for many of the Burmese who have
lived in the Teknaf camps for more than five years. 

``Life will never be the same for us again,'' Mariam Banu said as her eyes
wandered over the unending range of hills in Arakan, home to some 250,000
Muslims known as Rohingyas who fled to Bangladesh in early 1992. ``They (the
hills) seem so near but are so far.'' 

The Rohingyas flooded across the border, saying they were being persecuted by
the Burmese military. Refugees say the situation in Burma remains unchanged
today and, while all but 21,000 of the camp inmates have returned home, the
number of illegal Burmese immigrants who have not registered in refugee camps
has swelled in the past four months. Estimates of their number vary widely
from 15,000 to 100,000. 

``We have reports from those who had been repatriated that things have turned
worse now. Many of them have come back and maybe others will follow,'' Banu
said. 

Supervised by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the repatriation has
to be voluntary, but complaints of Rohingyas being sent back by force
triggered clashes in the camps last month, forcing a temporary suspension of
the process. 

REFUGEES LAMENT FOR HOMES 

All but 21,000 Rohingyas in the camps were sent home under an agreement
between Dhaka and Rangoon when clashes erupted at Nayapara camp on July 20 as
refugees resisted repatriation. 

``They assured that Burmese authorities would treat us humanely and return
our land, but soon we found the amount of torture had increased,'' Dil
Mohammad said. ``So we crossed into Bangladesh again but this time did not
report to the refugee camps because they might force us back to Myanmar
(Burma).'' 

``I have left there (Burma) everything -- two children and many relatives. I
don't know what has happened to them,'' a weeping Banu, 45, said. She said
her husband was dead. She now lives in Nayapara camp in Teknaf with more than
12,000 others and dreams of going back when her native land is at peace. 

``But that appears to be a wishful thinking,'' one of her camp mates said.
``There can be no peace (in Burma) until we have a civilian government
powerful enough to keep the military confined to the barracks.'' 

Refugees armed with sticks, stones and slingshots have chased away security
personnel trying to enter the Nayapara camp twice this week. Rohingyas man
the camp gate and greet anyone approaching with: ``Halt, show your identity
card.'' 

They have reaffirmed their vow not to take food from authorities and attack
anyone who might try to use force. 

``The situation is completely out of our control,'' one senior government
official said this week. ``They (Rohingyas) are virtually running a parallel
administration in the camp.'' 

REFUGEES HAVE TWIN GOALS 

A low-key insurgency by Muslim rebel groups has kept alive a feeble hope that
Arakan, with its vast forests and other natural resources, would emerge as an
independent homeland for the Rohingyas. The refugees are backed by Muslim
insurgent groups pursuing twin goals -- a transfer of power by Burma's
military rulers to the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi
and an independent homeland for Muslims in west Burma's Arakan province
bordering Bangladesh. 

A majority of the Nayapara refugees have refused food rations provided by
Bangladesh authorities for nearly a month as part of a campaign to stay in
Bangladesh. Bangladesh has turned down their plea, saying it could not
shoulder the burden for an indefinite period. 

The refugees want Bangladesh to launch a diplomatic drive, in cooperation
with the UNHCR, to relocate them to a third country. But that too seems
unlikely. 

One government official said: ``No country today is in a position to invite
any unnecessary problem.'' He cited the 400,000 Urdu-speaking Bihari Muslims
stranded in Bangladesh for more than 25 years trying to go to Pakistan. 

``How long can we shelter the Rohingyas while we have been hosting so many
others already?'' asked the official, who declined to be identified. 

The refugees believe staying put in Bangladesh and drawing support from the
UNHCR will enable them to highlight their cause worldwide. 

``In Myanmar we are like a caged bird, having no link with the outside world.
So we want to use our time as refugees to tell the world that the SLORC
(Burma's ruling State Law and Order Council) must be condemned in the
toughest possible language and be treated as killers of human and civil
rights,'' refugee Syed Kashem Master said. 

10:49 08-20-97