Bangladesh plans to install barbed-wire fences around Rohingya refugee camps – minister

Authorities in Bangladesh will build barbed-wire fences around sprawling camps which house Rohingya refugees to stop their expansion, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said on Thursday.

The fences were ordered by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, AP reported, citing the minister. The PM had previously told authorities to open the border to allow hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya to escape from a harsh military crackdown in neighboring Myanmar two years ago.

It is not clear when construction of the fences will begin at more than 30 camps near the border.

The UN-established Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar last year recommended the prosecution of top Myanmar military commanders on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Myanmar has rejected the allegations.