29 Jul 2019
Bangladesh has handed over a fresh list of 25,000 Rohingyas to Myanmar for verification as the repatriation process lingers.
With the new list, Bangladesh has so far handed over names of around 55,000 Rohingyas to the Myanmar authorities following singing the deal two years back soon after the massive exodus in August 2017.
Acting Foreign Secretary Md Kamrul Ahsan made the announcement after a meeting with a Myanmar delegation led by its Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Myint Thu on Monday at the state guest house Meghna.
Not a single Rohingyas went back to their homeland despite assurance from Myanmar side. The government is expecting that the repatriation will start again anytime in September.
“Trust deficit is a big thing,” the acting foreign secretary said.
This is the first visit of a delegation from Myanmar who heard the plights of Rohingya refugees. Rohingyas’ first demand is citizenship, and second is freedom of movement and freedom of economic activities and returning back to the place from where they were uprooted.
“Only one visit will not solve the problem. They will have to come back again and again and build the trust. We will not force them (Rohingyas) to go back,” said Ahsan.
He said with the previous list of 30,000 Rohingyas, verifications for 8,000 have been completed. “So they can go back (to Rakhine) anytime if they want to go”.
Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas and most of them came since August 25, 2017.
Both sides signed the repatriation deal on Nov 23, 2017. On Jan 16, 2018 Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a document on “Physical Arrangement” to facilitate the return. It stipulates that the repatriation will be completed preferably within two years from the start.
The first batch of return was scheduled to begin on November 15 last year but none was willing to return due to lack of congenial environment in Rakhine.
The visiting Myanmar Secretary Thu said they were “ready since January 23, 2018.
“We are ready to welcome them. We are ready to receive them. But only thing is they have to decide by themselves.”
“So we provided them with information and we heard their voices, we heard their concerns. Now the time is to consider by them. We will cooperate with the government through the joint working group and then we will continue to visit Cox’s Bazar and explain preparations for the repatriation,” said Thu.
“At the same time ASEAN colleagues will continue to do need assessment,” he said as a team from ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) accompanied him this time.
But the centre’s report has been criticised as they stated that the conducive environment prevailed in Rakhine state.
On a question, a representative of the centre said their assessment is a continuous process.
“That was a part of a series of assessments. There will be more assessments,” he said.
On a question about the visit in Cox’s Bazar, the Myanmar secretary said they had a candid discussion and tried to build up trust.
“I asked them this is the right time to consider for them to go back or not. It’s their decisions. They’re all smiling,” he said.
Link:https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2019/07/29/bangladesh-hands-list-of-25000-rohingya-refugees-to-myanmar-for-verification
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