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Rohingya refugees cross the Naf to reach Bangladesh on November 12, 2017 (Illustration). REUTERS / Mohammad Ponir Hossain

The return of Rohingya refugees is pending. Burma has announced that it will send a delegation to refugee camps in Bangladesh to reassure those wishing to return to their country. Except that on the ground, between the violence of the security forces against the minority and the measures to favor the expropriations, nothing indicates that the authorities really want it.

With our correspondent in Geneva, Jérémie Lanche

Villages burned, enforced disappearances, rapes, the United Nations is worried about the level of violence that persists in Rakhine State (also called Arakan), 126 000 Rohingya, would be displaced there. For them, as for the more than 700,000 people who have fled to Bangladesh , a return seems unlikely.

UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore points to the responsibility of the Burmese authorities:

" In Rakhine State, the authorities went door-to-door to update their list of inhabitants. And they would have removed the names of all those who were not at home. For many Rohingyas, this list is perhaps the only official document proving their property rights or their origin. Without this evidence, returning to Burma may be impossible for these refugees. "

For the Rohingyas who have remained in their communities, here too, the situation is fragile. Burma requires them to obtain a national identity card. Except they are then registered as Bengali and not as Rohingya. They must also say when they entered the country even though they were born in Burma.

The United Nations calls on the authorities to put an end to this policy and to recognize the full citizenship of the Muslim minority.

► To read also: [RFI survey] Burma: Rohingya children detained for wanting to escape poverty