Myanmar ships 800 freed Rohingya prisoners back to Rakhine

Released Rohingya prisoners arrive in Sittwe jetty in Rakhine State after being transported by military boat on Monday (April 20). Myanmar sent more than 800 Rohingya back to its restive Rakhine state on Monday after releasing them from various overcrowded jails as the country, accused of genocide against the minority, tries to grapple with the coronavirus crisis. - AFP

SITTWE (Myanmar): The Myanmar Government shipped hundreds of recently released Rohingya inmates back to the country's restive western borderlands on Monday (April 20), after fears that its overcrowded prisons could become hotbeds for runaway Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreaks.

Men, women and children belonging to the stateless and long-persecuted Muslim minority were among nearly 25,000 prisoners freed last week by a presidential pardon to mark the country's April New Year celebrations.