“A three-member team of US officials, including US Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan W. Mozena, visited the official Kutupalong camp and also witnessed the situation of the [nearby] unofficial Kutupalong makeshift camp.”

The Rohingya refugees of Kutupalong camp reported to the US team that they have been living in a bad situation in Bangladesh for over 21 years. “We want a durable solution and want to permanently live in a third country,” said a refugee teacher on condition of anonymity.

The refugees also demanded to be recognized as citizens of Burma, to stop persecution and human rights abuses of Rohingyas in Burma’s Arakan State, and to stop pushing back Rohingya refugees attempting to reach Bangladesh.

A Rohingya woman said, “We fled to Bangladesh from Burma. We were unable to live in peace in our motherland Arakan State, Burma, because of persecution and human rights abuses by the Burmese government.”

Liala, a refugee woman living in the unofficial Kutupalong makeshift camp, said, “We are not recognized as refugees by the UNHCR or Bangladesh.”

She added, “We don’t want to stay in Bangladesh. We will go back to our country if we [are ensured] life security and citizenship rights like other ethnic groups. Now, the situation in Burma is not changing or improving. Thousands of innocent Rohingya Muslims were killed and hundreds of Rohingya women, including girls, were raped by the Burmese security force accompanied by Moghs (Rakhines) in Arakan State. So, there is no security of life and we want a permanent solution.”

A refugee student named Ismail said to the US team, “We want higher education in Bangladesh if we have to stay here long-term in the future.”

The US team visited the camp at about 3: 20 pm and spent half an hour before leaving.

On Thursday at about 9:30, the team visited the unofficial Leda camp (Tal) near Teknaf to observe the Rohingya refugees there.

As of yet, the US team has not responded to the refugees’ demands. Mr. Mozena told journalists that he would hold a press briefing in Dhaka on Thursday to discuss the team’s visit.

Alyssa Ayres, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, said that the US wants to work with Bangladesh to find a long-term solution in Burma.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent a delegation of four deputy assistant secretaries to Burma and Bangladesh to learn first-hand about the situation in Arakan State and the effects of the unrest on Bangladesh.

The team was in Burma from September 7 to September 10 and visited areas populated by Rohingya Muslims, observing the current condition of Rohingyas and Rakhine Buddhist camps in Arakan state. They came to Bangladesh on Tuesday and stayed until Thursday, Ms. Ayres explained.