Uncertainty over Rohingya repatriation is likely to stay as conflict between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army in Rakhine has escalated since early January, say experts.

Human Rights Watch has said Myanmar should disband its inquiry commission on abuses in Rakhine state for its unwillingness to seriously investigate alleged grave crimes against the ethnic Rohingyas.

Dhaka yesterday protested the "derogatory and provocative" remarks of Myanmar Religious Affairs Minister Thura Aung Ko on Rohingya refugees and asked the country to apologise.

A large portion of the donations meant for the displaced Rohingyas in Bangladesh is being spent as operational cost of international NGOs, says a study.

The UN refugee agency yesterday urged Myanmar to exert all efforts to create conditions for safe return of Rohingyas and address the root cause of their displacement.

The first batch of Rohingyas is all set to be sent back to Myanmar today amid reports that many of the refugees listed for return are hiding in fear of forcible repatriation.

Dhaka has urged Beijing to encourage Myanmar to create a conducive environment for a speedy return of Rohingyas to their home in Rakhine.

A plan to start repatriating Rohingyas back to Myanmar is premature and the refugees are "terrified" about leaving Bangladesh where they sought refuge, dozens of aid agencies working in the region said yesterday.

The Chairman of the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs Ed Royce yesterday said he believed that a realistic accounting of the deliberate campaign of murder, intimidation and displacement against the Rohingya clearly met the legal standard for genocide.

Myanmar yesterday agreed to speed up the process of repatriating the forcibly displaced Rohingyas who fled to Bangladesh from Rakhine to escape persecution.

Myanmar has categorically rejected the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor's request to seek jurisdiction over suspected deportations of Rohingyas from Myanmar to Bangladesh, saying it was meritless.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali left Dhaka for Myanmar last night to see for himself whether a conducive environment has been created in Rakhine for the safe return of forcibly displaced Rohingyas.

The United Nations said Myanmar has not yet granted its staff independent and effective access to Rakhine, though two months have passed since the signing of a deal on helping the country create conducive conditions for Rohingya repatriation.

Muslim Rohingya refugees reaching Bangladesh say violence, including torture, persists against them in Myanmar and the overall environment remains "menacing" for ethnic and religious minorities, UN human rights investigators said yesterday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday urged UN Secretary General's Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener to persuade Myanmar to take back Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said Myanmar agrees on all issues during dialogues over the return of displaced Rohingyas, but it finally does not act.

As darkness descends, a sense of unshakeable foreboding grips Rohingya refugee camps in Balukhali and Kutupalong.

The Asian Development Bank has approved a grant assistance of $100 million -- the first of an envisaged package totaling $ 200m to help Bangladesh develop basic infrastructure and services for Rohingyas.

Now that the chief of the UN himself has come and heard the “heartbreaking accounts from Rohingya refugees”, will the Wall hear the same? We mean the UN Security Council and the Myanmar government. Will they act to end the untold miseries of the world's most persecuted people of our time?

They may lack the glitz and glamour of the World Cup, but football clubs for stateless Rohingya refugees in Malaysia offer something more -- a 90-minute reprieve from a grinding existence on the fringes of society.