From: apakabar@IGC.ORG (Indonesia Publications/Task Force)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seasia-l
Subject: Rohingyas Fear Repatriation
Date: 15 Apr 92 01:02:38 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
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Source: FBIS.  Scanned.

Rohingya Leader Demands Citizenship Guarantees

BKO504041592 Hong Kong AFP in English 0241 GMT 5 Apr 92

[By Nadeen Qadir]

[Text] Dhaka, April 5 (AFP) - The leader of Burmese Moslem refugees
sheltering in Bangladesh has expressed doubts about prospects for a
U.N. settlement and said his people will return only if the Rangoon
government guarantees their citizenship.

"In 1974 and in 1978 our people went back under a similar situation
with United Nations help, but our fate did not change and I am
pessimistic about the chances of success for the world body," Mohammad
Yunus, president of the dissident Rohingya Solidarity Organisation
(RSO) told AFP.

U.N. Undersecretary General Jan Eliasson held talks with Bangladeshi
and Burmese officials this week in an effort to find a solution to
the problem of 200,000 Rohingya Moslems who fled Burma's Arakan Province,
accusing the Rangoon government of atrocities against them.

The United Nations is ready to act as a catalyst in finding a negotiated
settlement to the problem, but any solution would be based on the "safe,
dignified and voluntary" return of the refugees, Eliasson said Thursday in
Dhaka before heading to Rangoon.

But Yunus said any solution was likely to be considered "forced"
repatriation and would bring only "brief credit" to the Burmese and
Bangladeshi governments.

The Rohingya leader reiterated his calls for a solution involving his
organisation and guarantees of citizenship as well as protection of civil
and political rights for Burmese Moslems.

Without a guarantee of citizenship, any settlement would be futile because
the refugees would not return to face further persecution, Yunus said.

The Burmese military junta has denied Rohingya accusations of atrocities,
saying that its troops are carrying out anti-insurgency actions in
Arakan and that the Moslems are illegal immigrants.

Yunus dismissed an acknowledgement last week by Rangoon that some
37,000 Rohingyas were Burmese nationals, saying the move was only a ploy
in the face of widespread international pressure on Burma.

He said repeated atrocities by Burmese forces had broken the "economic
backbone" of his people, adding that they "also want compensation as well
as the return of property given to Buddhists."

Asked if his organisation would give up its insurgency in Burma if the
Rohingyas were granted citizenship, Yunus said: "We have to see the
situation and then decide."

Refugees told journalists last month they would rather die in the 12
refugee camps in Bangladesh than go back to face further persecution.

But Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has categorically said that
a way to repatriate the refugees must be found before the monsoon
rains start later this month.

Dhaka remains hopeful of a settlement, according to officials who said
the government was pursuing the issue through bilateral means and through
the United Nations.

The prestigious Bangladeshi weekly Holiday said in its current issue
that expectations of an early solution raised by Eliasson's visit
would be "unrealistic" as "the United Nations is a slow-moving system."

Yunus appealed to all countries trading with Burma, especially China,
to impose an arms embargo on Rangoon because the military junta
imported weapons to suppress democracy.

Thailand and China are Burma's major trading partners, with Beijing the
main source of weapons that the junta has used to fight various ethnic
insurgencies across the country.