The United Nations said Myanmar has not yet granted its staff independent and effective access to Rakhine, though two months have passed since the signing of a deal on helping the country create conducive conditions for Rohingya repatriation.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali left Dhaka for Myanmar last night to see for himself whether a conducive environment has been created in Rakhine for the safe return of forcibly displaced Rohingyas.

Muslim Rohingya refugees reaching Bangladesh say violence, including torture, persists against them in Myanmar and the overall environment remains "menacing" for ethnic and religious minorities, UN human rights investigators said yesterday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday urged UN Secretary General's Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener to persuade Myanmar to take back Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said Myanmar agrees on all issues during dialogues over the return of displaced Rohingyas, but it finally does not act.

Myanmar is yet to show any real will to ensure safe repatriation of the Rohingya refugees now living in Bangladesh, UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee says.

As darkness descends, a sense of unshakeable foreboding grips Rohingya refugee camps in Balukhali and Kutupalong.

The Asian Development Bank has approved a grant assistance of $100 million -- the first of an envisaged package totaling $ 200m to help Bangladesh develop basic infrastructure and services for Rohingyas.

Red Cross President Peter Maurer has said there are serious doubts about the conducive conditions in Myanmar's Rakhine state for safe, voluntary and sustainable repatriation of Rohingyas from Bangladesh.

Now that the chief of the UN himself has come and heard the “heartbreaking accounts from Rohingya refugees”, will the Wall hear the same? We mean the UN Security Council and the Myanmar government. Will they act to end the untold miseries of the world's most persecuted people of our time?

They may lack the glitz and glamour of the World Cup, but football clubs for stateless Rohingya refugees in Malaysia offer something more -- a 90-minute reprieve from a grinding existence on the fringes of society.

They may lack the glitz and glamour of the World Cup, but football clubs for stateless Rohingya refugees in Malaysia offer something more -- a 90-minute reprieve from a grinding existence on the fringes of society.

As he walked through the alleys of the makeshift camps in rains and met Rohingya boys and girls, he remembered his granddaughters and tried to imagine what it would be like to see them in such conditions.

When Antonio Guterres visited Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox's Bazar in 2008, it housed only 10,800 Rohingyas. The total number of Rohingya population living in the district was around 27,000. They had arrived there in previous years and were not repatriated to Myanmar like many others.

UK along with its international partners will continue to put “maximum pressure” on Myanmar to ensure justice for the Rohingya victims of the persecutions by military in Rakhine State as well as their safe and dignified return from Bangladesh.

China yesterday assured Bangladesh of full support for expediting the repatriation of the Rohingya refugees to Myanmar after Dhaka sought Beijing's help to this end.

Dhaka is set to welcome five high-profile dignitaries, including the UN Secretary General António Guterres, next week. The dignitaries will visit Rohingya refugee camps, attend a session on sustainable development agenda and discuss the country's socio-economic achievements with government high officials.

The United Nations yesterday commended the Bangladesh government's commitment to support the Rohingya refugees and highlighted that the root causes of the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar must be addressed.

The UN secretary-general's special envoy on Myanmar has said granting citizenship to the Rohingya and ensuring accountability for the perpetrators of violence against the community could help create a conducive environment for their safe and voluntary repatriation.

In a major development, the International Criminal Court yesterday asked Myanmar to submit its written observations by July 27 on the allegations of deporting over 700,000 Rohingyas to Bangladesh.