Rohingya huddled in Bangladesh camps fear plan to move them on

More than 20 years after the first wave of Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar, fear is spreading through the sweltering camps of mud houses where they found shelter in southern Bangladesh that they will soon be on the move again. The refugees worry the Bangladesh government wants them out of sight, perhaps to one of its islands in the Bay of Bengal, as the two countries row over what to do with a stateless minority whose search for security is driving a regional migrant crisis. International focus on the festering plight of the Rohingya has sharpened in recent weeks as more than 4,000 migrants have washed up in rickety boats on the shores of Southeast Asia.

We have no choice. f the authorities tell us to move, we will move. But we can’t go back to Myanmar.

Ruhul Amin, 43, who crossed over from Myanmar seven years ago

The migrants, mostly Rohingyas but also Bangladeshis escaping poverty, were abandoned at sea by people smugglers after Thailand launched a crackdown on gangs trafficking their human cargo across its southern border with Malaysia. Myanmar does not recognise its estimated 1.1 million Rohingya population as citizens, even though many have lived for generations in its western Rakhine state. The government refers to them as “Bengalis” and considers them illegal immigrants.

Asia-Pacific Rohingya