India hands over 250 houses for Rohingya returning to Myanmar’s Rakhine

India has handed over 250 prefabricated houses it built in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. The move is part of a broader effort to help tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to return.

A campaign by Myanmar’s military in response to insurgent attacks in 2017 drove 730,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh. They live in squalid camps, fearing further persecution if they return.

An Indian official said the conditions had to be created for the Rohingyas’ return and India had started its $25 million development plan with a cluster of houses, Reuters reports.

Activists say that development projects in Rakhine will have little impact unless human rights issues are addressed.