Bangladesh Builds Fences Around Rohingya Camps

The Bangladeshi military has started erecting fences around camps housing hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees despite complaints from community leaders and rights groups, Balukhali, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Tuesday, December 10.

The camps house nearly a million members of the mostly Muslim Rohingya minority, around 750,000 of whom fled a military offensive in neighboring Myanmar in August 2017.

Frustration has been growing in Bangladesh about hosting the refugees, particularly since the latest attempt to repatriate them to Myanmar failed in August.

The refugees are already forbidden to leave the camps although their sprawling nature means authorities have been unable to police all their movements.

Myanmar's leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has defended her government's actions before the International Court of Justice in The Hague against genocide accusations. Speaking at the court Wednesday, she called the case against her country incomplete and misleading.

Aung San Suu Kyi defended Myanmar's leadership against claims that genocide is happening in the country.

The hearings of the case against Myanmar at the United Nations' highest court started on Tuesday and included detailed accusations of mass killings, torture and rapes against members of the Muslim Rohingya minority. The Gambia brought the case to the court to ask for protection for the Rohingya. More than 700,000 have fled to neighboring Bangladesh since 2017.

A first ruling on the case and whether or not the Rohingya should be protected is expected within weeks. (AFP/VOA)

https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/aung-san-suu-kyi-defends-myanmar-against-genocide-claims