Rohingya refugees march to highlight plight

PARIS —  More than 100 Rohingya Muslims in the Kutupalong refugee camp outside of Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh, have marched to highlight their suffering, demanding that international organizations hold the Myanmar government accountable for the attacks that drove them into exile.

Many wore T-shirts and paper hats proclaiming that they are “Not Bangali.” In Myanmar, the Rohingya are often derided as illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

Abdu Shukkur, a 44-year-old refugee, denounced the Myanmar government for refusing to recognize the Rohingya as an ethnic minority and for denying them “the right to citizenship and its privileges.”

Some 700,000 Rohingya fled brutal attacks last year by government forces and mobs in Myanmar, pouring across the border into crowded, makeshift refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Monsoon rains have begun sweeping through the camps, often leaving the refugees to wade through rivers of mud and water.