Boris Johnson has said Rohingya Muslim refugees should return to Myanmar only of their own accord and when the “conditions are right”.

After a visit to a refugee camp in Bangladesh, the British foreign secretary stressed there should be international oversight of any repatriation to Rakhine province, from which thousands fled last summer.

“While I welcome steps by both the Burmese and Bangladeshi governments towards ensuring that these people can return home, it is vital that the Rohingya refugees must be allowed to return to their homes in Rakhine voluntarily, in safety and with dignity, under international oversight, and when the conditions in Burma are right,” he said.

Johnson toured a camp that has taken in some of the estimated 650,000 Rohingya who fled from violent attacks last year.

“I have seen for my own eyes the horrendous living conditions the Rohingya people are having to endure and it has only further strengthened my commitment to working with international partners to improve the lives of these people in 2018,” he said.

“I pay tribute to the hospitality and compassion shown by the government of Bangladesh, who are facing an enormous challenge in providing humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya community.”

Johnson is due to meet Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, on Sunday.

In January plans to begin repatriating refugees stalled over fears many could be forced back into hostile territory against their will.

The Rohingya are considered a stateless people in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar and have been denied citizenship since 1982.

The latest outbreak of violence against the ethnic group was triggered in August when an insurgent group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, attacked a series of security outposts. The country’s military and mobs of local militia retaliated with a violent campaign across Rakhine province.

The UN has described the violence against the Rohingya as “textbook ethnic cleansing”.