THE head of Bangladesh’s refugee commission has said plans to start the repatriation of 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar were scrapped after officials were unable to find anyone who wanted to return.

The refugees “are not willing to go back now”, refugee commissioner Abul Kalam said yesterday, adding that officials “can’t force them to go”.

READ MORE: UN push for safety of returning Rohingya in Burma

The announcement came after about 1000 Rohingya demonstrated against returning to Myanmar, from where hundreds of thousands fled army-led violence last year.

At the Unchiprang camp, one of the sprawling refugee settlements near the city of Cox’s Bazar, another Bangladeshi refugee official implored the Rohingya to return to their country over a loudspeaker.

“We have arranged everything for you, we have six buses here, we have trucks, we have food. We want to offer everything to you. If you agree to go, we’ll take you to the border, to the transit camp,” he said.

“We won’t go!” hundreds of voices, including children’s, chanted in reply.

Bangladesh authorities had attempted to begin the repatriation of the Rohingya, despite calls from United Nations officials and human rights groups to hold off.

According to a UN-brokered

deal with Bangladesh and Myanmar, the Rohingya cannot be forced to repatriate.