YANGON, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Eight Hindu women along with eight children, taken away to Bangladesh by Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) extremist terrorists in August from Myanmar's northern Rakhine state, have been brought back to homeland, the official Global New Light of Myanmar reported Thursday.
The 16 people, abducted to a refugee camp in the neighboring country by the terrorists, returned to Myanmar under police escort after a demand by the Myanmar side through diplomatic channel during a visit to Bangladesh early this week of a Myanmar delegation, led by Minister at the State Counselor's Office U Kyaw Tint Swe.
The returned Hindu women, who are from Yebawkya village in Maungtaw, recalled a bloody massacre by the ARSA terrorists of at least 45 Hindu men who ended up in mass grave, the authorities said.
A group of about 500 ARSA extremist terrorists raided the Yebawkya village on Aug. 25 morning, killing all Hindu men and throwing them into mass graves, leaving the eight women and the eight children survived.
The graves were uncovered on Sept. 24-25 by the security forces on information.
The spate of violence prompted some 30,000 locals in the northern state to flee south to Mrauk U, Sittway, Kyauktaw and Minbya, while hundreds of thousands of Muslims fled to Bangladesh border.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's National Human Rights Commission on Wednesday stressed emphasis in a statement on long-term peace and stability in the rehabilitation process in the northern state, calling for strict scrutiny of returnees to ensure extremist terrorists are excluded.
Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed on Monday to establish a joint working group for repatriation of refugees who have crossed into Bangladesh.
