Rohingya refugees mark the anniversary of their exodus and demand a safe return to Myanmar

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) — Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar who live in sprawling camps in Bangladesh on Sunday marked the seventh anniversary of their mass exodus, demanding safe return to Myanmar's Rakhine state.

The refugees gathered in an open field at Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar district carrying banners and festoons reading “Hope is Home” and “We Rohingya are the citizens of Myanmar,” defying the rain on a day that is marked as “Rohingya Genocide Day.”

On Aug. 25, 2017, hundreds of thousands of refugees started crossing the border to Bangladesh on foot and by boats amid indiscriminate killings and other violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

Myanmar had launched a brutal crackdown following attacks by an insurgent group on guard posts. The scale, organization and ferocity of the operation led to accusations from the international community, including the U.N., of ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Then-Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordered border guards to open the border, eventually allowing more than 700,000 refugees to take shelter in the Muslim-majority nation. The influx was in addition to the more than 300,000 refugees who had already been living in Bangladesh for decades in the wake of waves of previous violence perpetrated by Myanmar’s military.

Since 2017, Bangladesh has attempted at least twice to send the refugees back and has urged the international community to build pressure on Myanmar for a peaceful environment inside Myanmar that could help start the repatriation. Hasina also sought help from China to mediate.

But in the recent past, the situation in Rakhine state has become more volatile after a group called Arakan Army started fighting against Myanmar’s security forces. The renewed chaos forced more refugees to flee toward Bangladesh and elsewhere in a desperate move to save their lives. Hundreds of Myanmar soldiers and border guards also took shelter inside Bangladesh to flee the violence, but Bangladesh later handed them over to Myanmar peacefully.

As the protests took place in camps in Bangladesh on Sunday, the United Nations and other rights groups expressed their concern over the ongoing chaos in Myanmar.

Washington-based Refugees International in a statement on Sunday described the scenario.

“In Rakhine state, increased fighting between Myanmar’s military junta and the AA (Arakan Army) over the past year has both caught Rohingya in the middle and seen them targeted. The AA has advanced and burned homes in Buthidaung, Maungdaw, and other towns, recently using drones to bomb villages,” it said.

“The junta has forcibly recruited Rohingya and bombed villages in retaliation. Tens of thousands of Rohingya have been newly displaced, including several who have tried to flee into Bangladesh,” it said.

UNICEF said that the agency received alarming reports that civilians, particularly children and families, were being targeted or caught in the crossfire, resulting in deaths and severe injuries, making humanitarian access in Rakhine extremely challenging.

Alam reported from Dhaka.

Rohingya people pray at a gathering to demand safe return to Myanmar's Rakhine state as they mark the seventh anniversary of their mass exodus from Myanmar at their refugee camp at Kutupalong in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/ Shafiqur Rahman)

Rohingya refugees gather in the rain to demand safe return to Myanmar's Rakhine state as they mark the seventh anniversary of their mass exodus at their refugee camp at Kutupalong in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/ Shafiqur Rahman)

Rohingyas refugees gather in the rain to demand safe return to Myanmar's Rakhine state as they mark the seventh anniversary of their mass exodus from Myanmar at their refugee camp at Kutupalong in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/ Shafiqur Rahman)

Rohingya refugees gather in the rain, with a flag of Myanmar seen at center, to demand safe return to Myanmar's Rakhine state as they mark the seventh anniversary of their mass exodus at their refugee camp at Kutupalong in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/ Shafiqur Rahman)

Rohingya refugees pray at a gathering to demand safe return to Myanmar's Rakhine state as they mark the seventh anniversary of their mass exodus from Myanmar at their refugee camp at Kutupalong in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/ Shafiqur Rahman)

Rohingya refugees gather in the rain to demand safe return to Myanmar's Rakhine state as they mark the seventh anniversary of their mass exodus at their refugee camp at Kutupalong in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/ Shafiqur Rahman)

Hundreds of Rohingyas gather in the rain to demand safe return to Myanmar's Rakhine state as they mark the seventh anniversary of their mass exodus from Myanmar at their refugee camp at Kutupalong in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/ Shafiqur Rahman)

Hundreds of Rohingyas gather in the rain to demand safe return to Myanmar's Rakhine state as they mark the seventh anniversary of their exile from Myanmar at their refugee camp at Kutupalong in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/ Shafiqur Rahman)

Hundreds of Rohingyas gather in the rain to demand safe return to Myanmar's Rakhine state as they mark the seventh anniversary of their mass exodus from Myanmar at their refugee camp at Kutupalong in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/ Shafiqur Rahman)

Hundreds of Rohingyas gather to demand safe return to Myanmar's Rakhine state as they mark the seventh anniversary of their exile from Myanmar at their refugee camp at Kutupalong in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/ Shafiqur Rahman)

SEATTLE (AP) — What was expected to be one of the strongest storms in the northwest U.S. in decades arrived Tuesday evening, knocking out power and downing trees across the region.

The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks beginning Tuesday and lasting through Friday as the strongest atmospheric river — a large plume of moisture — that California and the Pacific Northwest has seen this season bears down on the region. The storm system is considered a “ bomb cyclone,” which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly.

The areas that could see particularly severe rainfall will likely reach from the south of Portland, Oregon, to the north of the San Francisco area, said Richard Bann, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center.

“Be aware of the risk of flash flooding at lower elevations and winter storms at higher elevations. This is going to be an impactful event,” he said.

Hurricane-force winds, which are gusts above 75 mph (121 kph), could be felt along the Oregon coast, according to the National Weather Service in Medford, Oregon. And near Seattle, conditions for a “mountain wave” were shaping up, bringing large, low elevation wind gusts that could cause widespread power outages and downed trees, said Larry O’Neill, director of the Oregon Climate Service and Oregon State University associate professor.

“This will be pretty strong in terms of the last 10 or 20 years,” he said. "We’ve only seen a couple storms that have really been this strong.”

More than 106,000 customers had lost power in Washington as of Tuesday evening, according to poweroutage.us. More than 11,000 had lost power in Oregon and nearly 12,000 in California.

The National Weather Service in Seattle said a peak wind speed of 68 mph (109 kph) was recorded at Crystal Mountain near Mount Rainier. A wind speed of 53 mph (82 kph) was also recorded at Ediz Hook, a 3-mile-long (4.8-kilometer) sand spit northwest of Seattle that extends from the northern shore of the Olympic Peninsula at Port Angeles into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Winds were expected to increase in western Washington throughout the evening, the weather service said.

In northern California, flood and high wind watches were in effect, with up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rain predicted for parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, North Coast and Sacramento Valley.

A winter storm watch was issued for the northern Sierra Nevada above 3,500 feet (1,066 meters), where 15 inches (28 centimeters) of snow was possible over two days. Wind gusts could top 75 mph (120 kph) in mountain areas, forecasters said.

“Numerous flash floods, hazardous travel, power outages and tree damage can be expected as the storm reaches max intensity” on Wednesday, the Weather Prediction Center warned.

In Northern California’s Yolo County, crews spent Monday clearing culverts, sewers and drainage ditches to avoid clogs that could lead to street flooding. Mesena Pimentel said she hoped the efforts would prevent a repeat of floods last February that inundated her property near Woodland.

“We had about ten inches of water in our garage, had a couple gophers swimming around,” Pimentel told KCRA-TV. Woodland city officials set up two locations where residents could pick up free sandbags. Authorities urged people to stock up on food and charge phones and electronics in case power goes out and roads become unpassable.

In southwestern Oregon near the coast, 4 to 7 inches (10 to 18 centimeters) of rain was predicted — with as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) possible in some areas — through late Thursday night and early Friday morning, Bann said. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for parts of southwestern Oregon through Friday evening.

Washington could also see strong rainfall, but likely not as bad as Oregon and California. From Monday evening through Tuesday, some of its coastal ranges could get as much as 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) of rain, Bann said.

The weather service warned of high winds from Tuesday afternoon until early Wednesday for coastal parts of Pacific County, in southwest Washington. With gusts potentially topping 35 mph (46 kph), trees and power lines are at risk of being knocked down, the Pacific County Emergency Management Agency warned.

A blizzard warning was issued for the majority of the Cascades in Washington, including Mount Rainier National Park, starting Tuesday afternoon, with up to a foot of snow and wind gusts up to 60 mph (97 kph), according to the weather service in Seattle. Travel across passes could be difficult if not impossible.

Tuesday evening, fallen trees blocked the a lane on Interstate 90 in Issaquah, Washington, while rough winds and seas halted a ferry route in northwestern Washington between Port Townsend and Coupeville.

Officials also urged motorists to consider delaying travel around the state until Wednesday because of high winds and heavy snow expected in the mountains.

“It will only be a winter wonderland in the sense that you’ll be wondering where the heck you are on any given patch of land,” the Washington State Department of Transportation said on social media.

Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writer Lisa Baumann in Seattle contributed.

This Nov. 19, 2024 satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows an atmospheric river moving in on Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. (NOAA via AP)

In this image provided by Eastside Fire & Rescue, officials survey the scene where a tree fell on a home in Issaquah, Wash., Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (Eastside Fire & Rescue via AP)

In this image made from video provided by National Weather Service Portland a powerful storm also called a 'bomb cyclone' rotates off the U.S. West Coast on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (National Weather Service Portland via AP)

FILE - A person walks along the beach with flooding along the boardwalk Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024 in Seal Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, file)