UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Myanmar wants Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh repatriated to their former homes so they can live in a "more conducive environment" than the one they fled.
Kyaw Tint Swe is Myanmar's minister for the office of the state counselor. He says Myanmar is working with Bangladesh and the U.N. to find "long-term and practical solutions" to bring home some of the tens of thousands of Rohingya in the country's Rakhine state. That state borders Bangladesh.
Speaking at the U.N. on Saturday, he also warned of "destructive movements in the camps aimed at preventing repatriation."
Myanmar's military began a harsh counterinsurgency campaign against minority Rohingya Muslims in August 2017 in response to an insurgent attack.
More than 700,000 Rohingya fled, many to Bangladesh, from what has been called an ethnic cleansing campaign involving mass rapes, killings and burning of thousands of their homes.
