DHAKA, Bangladesh—It is not yet safe for the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims living in refugee camps in Bangladesh to begin returning to Burma, a senior United Nations official said Thursday. While many Rohingya want to eventually return to their villages, UNICEF deputy executive director Justin Forsyth said that no one he met during visits to Bangladesh’s refugee camps said they would go back now. “We have to improve the security situation inside Myanmar to send them back.” Read more: Skepticism, worry amid preparation for Rohingya repatriation to BurmaArticle Continued BelowBurma says first camp for returning Rohingya refugees will be ready next week Bangladesh, Burma aim to finish return of Rohingya refugees within two years More than 680,000 Rohingya fled Burma’s Rakhine state beginning in August, after Burma security forces began “clearance operations” in their villages in the wake of attacks by Rohingya insurgents on police posts. While most of the refugees left Burma in the first weeks of the crisis, Rohingya are continuing to trickle across the border into Bangladesh, complaining of mistreatment at home. Our correspondent reports from a sprawling makeshift city that houses hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people, driven from their homes by Burma's military.

Source: thestar January 25, 2018 14:48 UTC