Myanmar junta leader casts doubt on return of Rohingya

In this file photo taken on March 30,2016, Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (R) arrive for a handover ceremony at the presidential palace in Naypyidaw. - Detained Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi on May 24,2021 voiced defiance in her first public comments since being held in a coup, vowing her ousted political party would "exist as long as the people exist." - AP

YANGON, May 24 (Reuters): Myanmar's junta leader Min Aung Hlaing cast doubt on the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled to Bangladesh in comments made in his first interview since taking power in a Feb 1 coup.

Min Aung Hlaing was asked by Chinese-language Phoenix television whether the Muslims could be allowed back to Rakhine State - from where most fled an army crackdown in 2017 that UN investigators said had "genocidal intent".