Bangladesh authorities said they are ready to begin repatriating some of the more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled from army-led violence in Burma since last year, but refugees scheduled to leave said they would refuse to go because of fears for their safety.
Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamed has sharply criticised Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi for her handling of an ethnic crisis that led to mass killings and the exodus of more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims from her country.
Amal Clooney has called for immediate pardons in the cases of two journalists jailed in Burma for reporting on an alleged massacre of Rohingya Muslims.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has appealed to Aung San Suu Kyi to use her influence to ensure the perpetrators of the genocide of Burma’s Rohingya Muslims are brought to justice.
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has announced she is launching a preliminary investigation into the deportations of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims from Burma into Bangladesh.
Police in Thailand have shut down a forum organised by foreign journalists to discuss whether senior military officers in Burma should face justice for alleged human rights abuses committed by their forces against Rohingya Muslims and other ethnic minorities.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has called for accountability for the “horrendous persecution” of Rohingya Muslims in Burma.
Burmese military leaders should be prosecuted for genocide against Rohingya Muslims, investigators working for the UN’s top human rights body have said.
More than 700,000 Rohingya refugees who survived months of monsoons in makeshift settlements in Bangladesh are now a potential “sitting target” for a cyclone, a charity has warned.
Aid workers have begged Britain not to forget almost one million Rohingya stranded in makeshift refugee settlements a year after the most recent mass exodus from Burma.