Thousands of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh staged a rally on Tuesday to mark nine years since the start of a mass exodus after they were forced from their homes in Myanmar.
Protesters called for justice for the atrocities committed against them and urged the international community to help create conditions that would allow them to return as soon as possible. They also stressed that any repatriation must guarantee their rights, safety and citizenship in Myanmar.
In August 2017, Rohingya militants attacked police and military facilities in the western state of Rakhine. The subsequent fighting and military crackdown forced over 700,000 people to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. Many remain in overcrowded, unsanitary shelters without limited access to basic rights such as education and employment.
Myanmar's military-backed government said earlier this month that more than 300,000 Rohingya in the Bangladesh camps are former residents of Rakhine. It said it will accept their return once security conditions improve.
An expert says commitments from the international community are required to end the humanitarian crisis.
Lilianne Fan, Head of Secretariat at the Malaysian Advisory Group on Myanmar, said she hopes ASEAN will take the issue "much more seriously" and address the crisis in a holistic way. She said it needs to engage many different stakeholders in the country, and not rely solely on Myanmar's military.
Fan said the deteriorating security situation in Rakhine makes repatriation even more difficult, given the ongoing conflict between the Myanmar military and the ethnic Arakan Army.