Bangladesh has conceded that it will be unable to voluntarily repatriate Rohingya refugees to Myanmar as it had planned because it cannot find anyone willing to go back, though efforts to “motivate” people to leave will continue.

Four trucks and three buses were stationed at Unchiprang camp in Cox’s Bazar on Thursday morning, ready to carry refugees who have been “approved” to a transit camp by the border, but not one refugee was willing to board them. Most refugees on a list of those approved to return have gone into hiding. Mohammad Abul Kalam, Bangladesh’s refugee relief and rehabilitation commissioner, said his team had completed the “physical and logistical preparations” to facilitate the repatriation but has been forced to accept by Thursday evening local time that the refugees “are not willing to go back now.“Bangladesh was “totally committed to the principle of non-refoulement and voluntary repatriation”, Abul Kalam said. “We will not force anyone to go back to Myanmar against his or her will,” he added, though authorities would continue to try to “motivate” refugees to leave.More than 2,000 Rohingya refugees had been put on a list approved by Myanmar for return, without their consent. While the plan was to send them back in batches of 150 per day starting on Thursday, by Wednesday night almost all had gone into hiding in other camps and in the nearby forest, amid fears they would be sent to Myanmar against their will.(theguardian)…[+]