[Increase] [Normal] [Decrease] Myanmar to expel Rohingya Muslims

Rohingya Muslims men from Myanmar, who tried to cross the Naf river into Bangladesh to escape sectarian violence, are kept under watch by Bangladeshi security officials after disembarking from an intercepted boat in Teknaf on June 18, 2012.

Myanmar’s President Thein Sein says Rohingya Muslims must be expelled from the country and sent to refugee camps run by the United Nations.

The former junta general said on Thursday that the "only solution" was to send nearly a million Rohingya Muslims - one of the world's most persecuted minorities -- to refugee camps run by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"We will send them away if any third country would accept them," he added. "This is what we are thinking is the solution to the issue."

The UN refugee agency has snubbed the idea of setting up refugee camps to accommodate the Rohingyas.

The UN says decades of discrimination have left the Rohingyas stateless, with Myanmar implementing restrictions on their movement and withholding land rights, education and public services.

Over the past two years, waves of ethnic Muslims have attempted to flee by boats in the face of systematic oppression by the Myanmar government.

The government of Myanmar refuses to recognize them. They say the Rohingyas are not native and classify them as illegal migrants, although they have lived in Myanmar for generations.

MSH/MA/AZ
Source: Press TV