Myanmar prepares for first Rohingya returnees, but U.N. warns against rushing

FILE PHOTO: Rohingya refugees pass baskets of dried out mud from the riverbed to raise the ground level of the camp in preparation for monsoon season, in Shamlapur refugee camp in Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh, March 24, 2018. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

YANGON/COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Myanmar officials said on Sunday the country was ready to receive more than 2,000 Rohingya Muslims sheltering in Bangladesh on Nov. 15, the first group from 5,000 people to be moved under a deal between the neighbours struck last month.

But more than 20 individuals on a list of potential returnees submitted by Bangladesh have told Reuters they will refuse to go back to northern Rakhine state from where they fled. Bangladesh has said it will not force anyone to do so.