ZCZC
BSS-29
ROHINGYA-BANGLADESH-MYANMAR
Myanmar expresses readiness to return Rohingyas
DHAKA, July 29, 2019 (BSS) – Myanmar today expressed its readiness to take
back their Rohingya nationals amid fears of their fate once they returned to
their homeland while Dhaka said the neighbouring country must earn their
trust for launching the repatriation process.
The development came as a high-level Myanmar delegation visited the
Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar and talked to their representatives while they
visibly pursued them to return to their homeland in the country’s northern
Rakhine state.
“Actually I asked them (Rohingyas) that this is the right time to consider
whether they should to go back or not, because we provided explanation to
their key issues,” Myanmar’s foreign affairs permanent secretary Myint Thu,
who leads a 19-member delegation, told a news briefing in Dhaka.
He added: “Myanmar is ready to welcome the Rohingyas (back home) . . . but
the only thing is they (Rohingya) have to decide (about their return) by
themselves”.
Bangladesh’s acting Foreign Secretary Kamrul Ahsan, who was present at the
briefing as well, however, said Naypyidaw must generate trust among the
Rohingyas for their spontaneous return saying “as long as confidence is not
built up they (Rohingys) won’t go back”.
Ahsan simultaneously added: “we (Bangladesh) won’t push back anyone
forcibly”.
A 19-member Myanmar delegation in the last two days visited the Rohingya
camps, one specially erected for Hindu residents of Ralkhine who too were
forced to flee their home along with the majority Rohingya Muslims. This was
the third visit by a Myanmar delegation to the Rohingya camps but this time
they were accompanied by a 5-member ASEAN observer group during the
interactions when the newsmen were barred from going along with them.
Myint Thu said during the interactions they tried to convince the
Rohingyas to go back to Myanmar saying the situation in their homeland in
northern Rakhine was now better and called the discussion “very candid”.
“Then we tried to build up trust between the community leaders and our
delegation,” he said.
Myint Thu said they also showed factsheet to Rohingya detailing the
proposed repatriation process as well as their access to justice and access
to education, health and social services. The top Myanmar foreign affairs
bureaucrat said a part of the discussion was related to the Rohingyas
citizenship NVC card issues.
Bangladesh’s foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, meanwhile, in a separate
media interaction today at his office said Naypyidaw expressed its plan for
the first time to provide the Rohingyas the natural citizenship which he
called a ” breakthrough”.
He, however, said, the citizenship issue was an internal affair of Myanmar
and Bangladesh would not like to be taken hostage on the issue while Dhaka
only “wants safe return of Rohingyas and their mobility there”.
Momen said he received an invitation from his Myanmar counterpart but “I
told him I will go when the first batch of Roihingyas will return home”.
But he said Rohingyas should go back to their motherland to realize their
rights and “they (Rohingyas) should understand, it’s not possible to realize
their rights (citizenship) unless they are going back (to Rakhine)”.
In a related development, Bangladesh today handed over a list of more
25,000 verified Rohingyas belonging to 6,000 families to Myanmar for
repatriation
Ahsan said Bangladesh earlier handed over list of 30,000 Rohingyas in two
phases and among them Myanmar by now already verified 8,000 for repatriation
in first batch.
Asked when the expected repatriation could start, he said “anytime” since
Myanmar already verified 8,000 of them.
The two secretaries joint briefing came after they held a nearly two-hour
meeting at state guest house Meghna here in the capital.
About 1.1 million Rohingyas fled Myanmar into Bangladesh following alleged
mass murder, rape and other atrocities in Rakhine since August 2017. The
displaced Rohingyas are now living in 30 camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf of Cox’s
Bazar district.
Myanmar agreed to take back the Rohingyas under a bilateral agreement with
Bangladesh on January 16, 2018. But, the deal did not progress much as there
was little tangible action from the Myanmar side and refusal of the displaced
persons to go back amid uncertainty and insecurity.
Previously, the first batch of Rohingyas was scheduled to return on
November 15 last year but eventually they declined to go back, fearing that
the situation in Rakhine was still not favourable.
BSS/ASG/TA/AR/1746 hrs