Rohingya refugees demand safe return to Myanmar

ANNIV OF EXODUS

Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar who live in sprawling camps in Bangladesh marked the seventh anniversary of their mass exodus on Sunday, demanding safe return to Myanmar Rakhine state.
The refugees gathered in an open field at Kutupalong camp in Cox Bazar district carrying banners and festoons reading "Hope is Home" and "We Rohingya are the citizens of Myanmar," defying the rain on a day that is marked as "Rohingya Genocide Day."
On Aug 25, 2017, hundreds of thousands of refugees started crossing the border to Bangladesh on foot and by boats amid indiscriminate killings and other violence in Myanmar Rakhine state.
Myanmar had launched a brutal crackdown following attacks by an insurgent group on guard posts. The scale, organisation and ferocity of the operation led to accusations from the international community, including the UN, of ethnic cleansing and genocide.