DHAKA, Feb 2, 2021 (BSS) – Dhaka wants to hold tripartite working
group meeting soon with Myanmar, mediating by China, over Rohingya
repatriation if Naypyidaw fails to attend the scheduled talk on
February 4 amid their internal changed situation.
“Our preference is to hold the meeting on Thursday (February 4) …
we will wait till tomorrow (to see whether Myanmar will attend the
virtual meeting or not),” foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen told
reporters about the meeting at foreign ministry here.
On January 19 last, the secretary level tripartite meeting among
Bangladesh, China and Myanmar decided to hold the next joint working
group meeting on February 4 for advancing the discussion about
commencing repatriation of Rohingyas.
Masud said Dhaka has already contacted China and conveyed that it
is ready to hold the scheduled next round tripartite talks in shortest
possible time and wants to carry forward the roadmap, which was
chalked out with Myanmar in recent secretary level such meeting,
to commence Rohingya repatriation.
Myanmar military seized power in a coup on Monday and declared a
one-year state of emergency after reportedly arresting civilian leader
Aung San Suu Kyi along with Myanmar President Win Myint and leaders of
democratically elected government of National League for Democracy
(NLD).
Admitting that Dhaka is yet to contact the new Myanmar government,
Masud said, he discussed the matter with Chinese Ambassador here
yesterday.
The senior secretary said that they would start communicating with
the new 11-minister cabinet of Myanmar interim government when they
would be functional.
“We don’t see any … (problem) to contact (new Myanmar
government),” he said, adding that as military is used to be at the
state power in Myanmar before, Dhaka doesn’t see any reason to stop
relations with Naypyidaw.
Referring to Bangladesh Army chief’s recent Myanmar visit, Masud
said Dhaka carries out diplomatic relations with Myanmar at different
level.
On Monday, while approached by media, foreign minister Dr AK Abdul
Momen said Rohingya repatriation is a priority for Bangladesh and
Dhaka will continue its discussion on the issue with Myanmar
government, doesn’t matter whoever in the power.
“Our discussion will continue with the Myanmar government, not with
any individual,” he said.
Mentioning that Rohingyas repartition was seen in 1978 and 1992
under the Myanmar’s military government, Momen said, “It’s my belief
that we’ll be able to achieve our goal.”
After the January 19 secretary level tripartite meeting, foreign
secretary Masud said Dhaka is ‘cautiously optimistic’ to start
much-demanded Rohingya repatriation from 2nd quarter of this year as
Naypyidaw showed its flexibility to take back their nationals.
In a letter to Bangladesh foreign minister Momen last month, the
then Myanmar international affairs minister Kyaw Tin said his country
is committed to take back Rohingyas under the agreement signed between
Naypyidaw and Dhaka in 2017 regarding the repatriation of the
forcefully displaced people from Bangladesh to Rakhine.
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.
In last three years, Myanmar did not take back a single Rohingya
while the attempts of repatriation failed twice due to trust deficit
among the Rohingyas about their safety and security in the Rakhine
state.
Bangladesh handed over biometric data of 8,30,000 Rohingyas while
the Myanmar authority so far verified only 42,000 displaced people out
of the list.