Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh: Return to start in two months

Bangladesh and Myanmar have reached an arrangement to begin in two months the repatriation of the Rohingyas who have fled to Bangladesh from Rakhine State over the last one year to escape persecution.

"The return shall commence within two months," Bangladesh foreign ministry said in a statement issued hours after the signing of an "arrangement" yesterday on the repatriation of the refugees sheltered in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Myanmar Union Minister U Kyaw Tint Swe signed the instrument at the State Counsellor's Office in Naypyitaw.

Later, Mahmood told reporters that this is the "first step". He, however, didn't mention any timeframe for concluding the repatriation.

The foreign minister said he would give details of the arrangement at a press briefing in Dhaka tomorrow.

"A Joint Working Group will be established within three weeks of signing the 'arrangement'. A specific bilateral instrument (physical arrangement) for repatriation will be concluded in a speedy manner," reads the foreign ministry statement.

The two countries, which tussled over the terms and conditions of repatriation for several weeks, signed the instrument following two-day talks between Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the Bangladesh foreign minister.

In a statement issued after the signing, Myanmar State Counsellor's Office said, "The arrangement was based on the joint statement signed by the foreign ministers of the Government of the Union of Myanmar and the People's Republic of Bangladesh in 1992, and contained the general guiding principles and policy arrangements to systematically verify and receive the displaced persons from Rakhine State."

However, the Bangladesh foreign minister last month said Dhaka did not agree to Naypyitaw's proposal for following the principle and criteria of the 1992 deal to take back the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals.

During his Dhaka visit on October 2 this year, Kyaw Tint Swe expressed his country's willingness to take back the "displaced residents" of Myanmar and proposed to follow the principle and criteria agreed upon in the 1992 Joint Statement.

But Mahmood said the 1992 criteria are not "realistic" and "the situation of 1992 and the current situation are entirely different".

In its statement, Myanmar State Counsellor's Office mentioned, "The present arrangement, which had been agreed to by both the countries based on their friendly and good neighbourly relations, demonstrates the steadfast position of Myanmar, and is a win-win situation for both countries."

Referring to the registration forms the Rohingyas must complete with personal details before repatriation, Myint Kyaing, permanent secretary at Myanmar's ministry of labour, immigration and population, said, "We are ready to take them back as soon as possible after Bangladesh sends the forms back to us."

Diplomatic sources in Dhaka said that though Myanmar signed the bilateral instrument amid global pressure, the arrangement doesn't cover some vital issues such as involvement of the UN in the repatriation process.

It also doesn't mention a specific timeframe for concluding the repatriation, any clause for safeguarding the interest of Bangladesh and the refugees or the Rakhine Advisory Commission which recommended review of the controversial 1982 citizenship law, they added.

According to the sources, Myanmar has agreed to focus only on the Rohingya population sheltered in Bangladesh since October 2016. More than seven lakh

Rohingyas entered Bangladesh over the last one year following military crackdowns in Rakhine State.

But Myanmar didn't make any commitment over around three to five lakh undocumented Rohingyas who entered Bangladesh in the last three decades. Myanmar also kept mum about the 33,000 Rohingyas staying in two refugee camps in Cox's Bazar since 1992, they added.

The UN and the international community have repeatedly appealed for safe and sustainable repatriation of the Rohingyas to their places of origin.

The Rakhine Advisory Commission, led by former UN chief Kofi Annan, called for freedom of movement for all people in Rakhine and a review of the controversial 1982 citizenship law.

In its report submitted to the Myanmar president on August 23, the commission noted that scrapping restrictions on movement in Rakhine and granting citizenship to its Muslim minority people could help avoid fuelling extremism and bring peace to the state.

The commission suggested that the Myanmar government should maintain a strong bilateral relationship with Bangladesh to address the challenges in Rakhine. It warned that failure to implement its recommendations could lead to more extremism and violence.

On Wednesday, the US toughened its stance on Myanmar, accusing the country's security forces of perpetrating "horrendous atrocities" against the Rohingyas that amount to "ethnic cleansing" of the Muslim minority.

"After a careful and thorough analysis of available facts, it is clear that the situation in northern Rakhine state constitutes ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya," US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement.

"No provocation can justify the horrendous atrocities that have ensued."

The statement from Tillerson, who visited Myanmar on November 15, is the strongest US condemnation yet of the military's crackdown on the Rohingyas.

During his Myanmar visit on November 19, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi proposed a three-phase solution for resolving the Rohingya issue. 

According to an UN estimate, more than 622,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh from Rakhine since the Myanmar military launched a brutal crackdown on the ethnic minority on August 25. 

Bangladesh had seen influx of Rohingyas from Myanmar also in 1978, 1991 and 2016. Now, more than one million Rohingyas are staying in Bangladesh.

In its statement, Myanmar State Counsellor's Office said, "Western countries as well the OIC had portrayed the matter as an international issue by passing resolutions at the UN Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly. The Security Council also issued a Presidential Statement on the issue.

"The principled position of Myanmar is that issues that emerge between neighbouring countries must be resolved amicably through bilateral negotiations," it added.