(CNN)Rohingya refugees who fled a brutal army crackdown last year say they are terrified of going back to Myanmar, as authorities begin the process of repatriating thousands of people living in crowded refugee camps near the Bangladeshi border.
“I am scared, I was told that if we don’t go back our house here will be broken,” 60-year-old Rohingya refugee Rahima Khatun told CNN from Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. “I would rather eat poison or jump from the boat and die rather than go back.”
Bangladesh and Myanmar were set to start the repatriation of 2,260 Rohingya refugees to Rakhine State on Thursday, however by late afternoon no Rohingya families had volunteered to return, according to Bangladeshi authorities.
