DHAKA, Nov 8, 2020 (BSS) – Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen today hoped that Dhaka would resume talks with Naypyidaw for commencing repatriation of forcibly displaced Rohingyas to their land of origin in Rakhine, soon after the new Myanmar government assumes the office.
“Our talk with Myanmar has been suspended since February on name of pandemic ..we are hopeful to resume it soon after the new (Myanmar’s) government takes office,” he told reporters at his office here today.
He said Myanmar also informed Dhaka that they would publish a booklet on the steps of the Myanmar taken for safety and security of the returning Rohingyas.
The booklet will be distributed among Rohingyas here as there is a trust deficit among displaced people that needs to be addressed by the Myanmar side, he said.
“It’s a good news …. we want to remain positive,” Dr Momen said reminding that Myanmar gave commitment to Bangladesh that they will take their nationals back.
Dr Momen said Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has also assured him that Beijing would take initiatives to arrange second round of foreign ministerial level ‘tripartite talks’ among Bangladesh, China and Myanmar over Rohingya repatriation soon after Myanmar’s general elections that was held today.
In a recent telephonic conversation, Dr Momen said Wang conveyed him that Myanmar recently reassured China of taking back the forcibly displaced Rohingyas from Bangladesh once the Covid-19 situation improves.
The Chinese foreign minister also said China has been maintaining regular communication with Myanmar at various levels over the Rohingya repatriation issue while Naypyidaw assured Beijing that they would start discussions with Bangladesh soon in this regard.
The first such tripartite meeting among the foreign ministers of Bangladesh, China and Myanmar was held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last year.
Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million forcefully displaced Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar district and most of them arrived there since August 25, 2017 after a military crackdown by Myanmar, which the UN called a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” by other rights groups.
Rohingya Repatriation attempts were failed twice in November 2018 and August 2019 despite of having a repatriation deal between Bangladesh and Myanmar, signed on November 2017.
Aung San SuuKyi’s ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) today said it was confident of winning a landslide victory in Myanmar as official results trickled in following the weekend’s coronavirus-disrupted election, AFP reported.
However, the report said the polls were cancelled in many ethnic minority areas for “security reasons” — while nearly all of the country’s remaining 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have long been stripped of citizenship and rights.
Meanwhile Ismail Wolff from Fortify Rights said the international community must unequivocally condemn the disenfranchisement of Rohingya and other ethnic nationalities or risk paving the path for future violations.
“A core principle of elections under international law is universal and equal suffrage and that is not what took place,” he said.