Radical monks storm safe house for Rohingya refugees in Sri Lanka

 Radical Buddhist monks stormed a United Nations safe house for Rohingya refugees yesterday and forced authorities to relocate the group, officials said.

 Buddhist monks led a mob that broke down gates and entered the walled multi-storied compound as frightened refugees huddled together in upstairs rooms, a police official told AFP.

"We have pushed back the mob and the refugees will be relocated in a safer place," the official told AFP, asking not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The 31 Rohingya refugees were rescued by the Sri Lankan navy in May after they were found drifting in a boat off the island's northern waters.

The Rohingya were eventually to be resettled in a third country, the official said, adding that they were authorised to remain in Sri Lanka pending the processing of their papers.

A monk who stormed into the building was filmed by his radical Sinhale Jathika Balamuluwa (Sinhalese National Force) as he urged others to join him and smash the premises.

"These are Rohingya terrorists who killed Buddhist monks in Myanmar," the monk said in his live commentary on Facebook, pointing to Rohingya mothers with small children in their arms.

Sri Lanka's extremist Buddhist monks have close links with their ultra-nationalist counterparts in Myanmar. Both have been accused of orchestrating violence against minority Muslims in the two countries.

The police official said the refugees were taken into "protective custody" and had been brought back to their safe house when the mob returned and started throwing stones.

According to reports in the Dawn the  31 refugees, including women and children, were sent away to the detention camp at Boosa.

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the cooperation of which was sought, was assured that the sojourn of the refugees in Boosa, primarily meant for terror suspects, would only be temporary. The UNHCR accepted the arrangement.