Rohingyas willing to go home, not to model villages

Rohingya refugees who interacted with the Myanmar delegation in Cox's Bazar at the end of last month expressed their resolve to return to their original homes, not to the villages or camps set up for them in the Rakhine State.

The delegates, however, were not able to make a commitment in this regard. They could only say they would discuss the matter with the higher authorities in Naypyidaw, officials concerned said.

The 30-member delegation, during its three-day visit to Cox's Bazar on October 27-29, was engaged in two tasks -- verification of the Rohingyas' identities and briefing them about the repatriation and resettlement process, citizenship procedures and other facilities.

The delegates, while briefing 100 Rohingyas, tried to clarify the situation back in the Rakhine State and build trust among the refugees, officials said.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Mizanur Rahman, refugee, relief and repatriation commissioner (RRRC), said the Myanmar delegation revealed the names of 20 model villages where they want to repatriate the Rohingyas on a pilot basis. China and India supported the building of these villages.

The Rohingyas, however, prefer going back to their ancestral land.

Rashida Begum, a refugee who interacted with the delegation in Teknaf, told The Daily Star, "We don't want to go from one camp to another. We don't want rice, oil, peas or any other help. We will take tarpaulin from here and make our home with bamboos, if need be. We just want to go back to our own lands and want back our farms."

Senowara, another refugee, said they do not want to live on others' lands as it will create problems.

"Many other Rohingyas who were kept in the [Rakhine] camps in the past are yet to be allowed in their ancestral homes."

She is part of about a million Rohingyas living in the makeshift camps in Cox's Bazar since they fled the brutal military crackdown in 2017 and had seen their homes burnt to ashes and families killed -- something the US considered a "genocide".

Several repatriation attempts failed in the past, with the Rohingyas saying that safety and citizenship were not being guaranteed.

Meanwhile, China has been playing a mediator's role between Bangladesh and Myanmar, with the former hoping to see the repatriation start by this year.

So far, Myanmar authorities have verified some 2,800 Rohingyas as eligible for return to the Rakhine State, given they undergo other procedures, including the UN assessment of their voluntariness.

RRRC Mizanur said the delegation told the refugees they will discuss the demand with the authorities concerned once they are back in Myanmar.

"The Rohingyas also demanded citizenship and voting rights at par with other ethnic groups in Myanmar. As always, the delegation said Rohingyas have to fill up the National Verification Card and go through legal procedures for citizenship.

"We asked the Myanmar officials how long it may take for a Rohingya to get citizenship; they said it depends on the authorities."

He added that the citizenship issue should be dealt with between the refugees and the Myanmar authorities.

"We can move forward with the repatriation if Myanmar agrees to the demands of the Rohingyas to resettle them to their places of origin. This is also written in the agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar [regarding repatriation]."