Stop pushing back Rohingyas
Urges HRW
New York based Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Bangladesh to stop forcibly pushing back Rohingyas fleeing sectarian violence in Myanmar.
It also urged the government to provide Rohingyas with humanitarian assistance and grant them temporary refuge until it is safe for them to return.
A press release of HRW published on its website yesterday said at least 18 Rohingya asylum seekers, including three young children, are in immediate danger of being returned to Myanmar on World Refugee Day, June 20.
“Bangladesh is putting the lives of those fleeing violence -- including young children -- at risk by sending them back to Myanmar,” Bill Frelick, refugee programme director at HRW, said in the press release.
“This is a reminder that the fundamental principles of refugee protection still need to be respected,” he added.
The rights body said while Bangladesh is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol, it is to other treaties, including the Convention against Torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child that provide protections to refugees and asylum seekers.
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