NIKKEI Asia
FAISAL MAHMUD, Contributing writer
March 23, 2023
Repatriation outlook 'very vague' after delegation verifies 429 of about 1m refugees
Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar after a fire in 2021: Efforts to arrange repatriation from Bangladesh to Myanmar appear to be going nowhere. © Reuters
COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh -- A weeklong visit by a delegation from Myanmar to Bangladesh's Rohingya refugee camps ended Wednesday with verification and registration of a few hundred people, inconclusive bilateral talks with Bangladeshi officials, and crucial unanswered questions about repatriation.
Both governments had hailed the trip as "significant," as it was the first such mission since 2019 intended to kick-start the process of taking back the refugees. But experts were skeptical of the outlook, while some camp residents expressed disappointment with the visit amid persistent fear of returning to a regime accused of atrocities.
Around 1 million refugees or "displaced people" from Myanmar have been living in a total of 34 refugee camps in Bangladesh's southern Cox's Bazar district. While mainly Muslim Rohingya have been crossing into Bangladesh for the past four decades, the largest influx of about 750,000 came in 2017.
They were fleeing from what the United Nations called "a textbook case of ethnic cleansing and genocide" at the hands of Myanmar's armed forces. After that exodus, the two countries signed an agreement on the commencement of Rohingya repatriation, but despite repeated promises, Myanmar has not created favorable conditions for their return.
Myanmar's military took over the country in February 2021, ousting the democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
While some hoped this month's visit to Cox's Bazar would be a step forward, accounts from refugees who met with the Myanmar team suggest otherwise.
Refugees said the delegation, led by Aung Myew, a director of the country's Foreign Ministry, was silent on two of their most important questions: when the repatriation process would actually start, and whether the Rohingya refugees would be granted citizenship in Myanmar.
Mohammad Yousuf, one of the interviewees, told Nikkei Asia that the Myanmar officials grilled him on details of his village in Rakhine state and whether he has any family members left there. "After giving all the answers, I asked them when the repatriation will begin. They didn't give any answers."
An interviewee named Hamida Khatun said she did not understand the point of the background checks. "We have been living there [in Rakhine] for at least four generations. Now they are asking whether we really lived there! It's ironic," she said.
"Even more ironic is that they didn't give any answer to our question whether we [Rohingya] will be taken back as their citizens," Khatun added. "Without ensuring the right of a citizen, we of course will not go back."
Buddhist-majority Myanmar does not consider the Rohingya as an indigenous group, referring to them as "Bengalis" and effectively rendering them stateless.
Nikkei Asia tried to speak with members of the Myanmar delegation but they declined, saying they were not allowed to speak with the media.
Around 1 million refugees or "displaced people" from Myanmar have been living in a total of 34 refugee camps in Bangladesh's southern Cox's Bazar district. While mainly Muslim Rohingya have been crossing into Bangladesh for the past four decades, the largest influx of about 750,000 came in 2017.
They were fleeing from what the United Nations called "a textbook case of ethnic cleansing and genocide" at the hands of Myanmar's armed forces. After that exodus, the two countries signed an agreement on the commencement of Rohingya repatriation, but despite repeated promises, Myanmar has not created favorable conditions for their return.
Myanmar's military took over the country in February 2021, ousting the democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
While some hoped this month's visit to Cox's Bazar would be a step forward, accounts from refugees who met with the Myanmar team suggest otherwise.
Refugees said the delegation, led by Aung Myew, a director of the country's Foreign Ministry, was silent on two of their most important questions: when the repatriation process would actually start, and whether the Rohingya refugees would be granted citizenship in Myanmar.
Mohammad Yousuf, one of the interviewees, told Nikkei Asia that the Myanmar officials grilled him on details of his village in Rakhine state and whether he has any family members left there. "After giving all the answers, I asked them when the repatriation will begin. They didn't give any answers."
An interviewee named Hamida Khatun said she did not understand the point of the background checks. "We have been living there [in Rakhine] for at least four generations. Now they are asking whether we really lived there! It's ironic," she said.
"Even more ironic is that they didn't give any answer to our question whether we [Rohingya] will be taken back as their citizens," Khatun added. "Without ensuring the right of a citizen, we of course will not go back."
Buddhist-majority Myanmar does not consider the Rohingya as an indigenous group, referring to them as "Bengalis" and effectively rendering them stateless.
Nikkei Asia tried to speak with members of the Myanmar delegation but they declined, saying they were not allowed to speak with the media.
The Myanmar delegation arrives at the Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner in Cox's Bazar. (Photo by Faisal Mahmud)
Mohammad Shamsud Douza, the Bangladesh government official in charge of refugees and repatriation, was willing to talk.
Douza, who held bilateral talks with the Myanmar team, was unsure what the refugees or Bangladesh got out of the visit. "They said they came here only to verify information of their IDPs for a pilot repatriation project," he told Nikkei, referring to "internally displaced persons."
"Basing on the information they gathered, their Foreign Ministry will make a decision of fixing another repatriation date," Douza said.
Last October, Bangladeshi Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen said the military government in Myanmar had agreed to take back Rohingya after verification. He also revealed that Bangladesh -- which is keen to be relieved of the problem and financial burden -- had supplied a list of 830,000 Rohingya refugees containing biometric data to the Myanmar government.
But Douza said, "In the last seven days, they have checked information of a total of 429 refugees, so you do the math of how long it might take to verify the whole list." In his assessment, "They were very vague about the actual repatriation process."
Experts questioned the motivation for the visit.
Munshi Fayez Ahmed, former chairman of the state-funded Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) think tank, said the delegation likely made the trip because the military regime is scrambling under international pressure.
"Politically, the junta faced an unprecedented national civil disobedience movement, and with the formation of the National Unity Government (NUG), the pressure only intensified, as many Western countries have recognized" the government in exile, Fayez said. "Militarily, they are fighting battles on several fronts" with armed ethnic groups.
Fayez, Bangladesh's former ambassador to China, suggested that Myanmar may have restarted the repatriation discussions at the persuasion of Beijing, which has significant financial stakes in both Bangladesh and Myanmar and wants the neighbors to be on good terms.
"But I am very doubtful about the possibility of successful repatriation of Rohingyas. They have to take them back as citizens, otherwise no one will go back," Fayez stressed.
The U.N.'s refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Sunday that it was aware of the trip by the Myanmar delegation but it "is not involved in these discussions" and its "position on return of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar remains unchanged." The statement said the "conditions in Myanmar's Rakhine state are currently not conducive to the sustainable return of Rohingya refugees," echoing previous assessments.
Three repatriation attempts since 2018 have failed, as the Rohingya refugees were unwilling to go back.
Khin Maung, executive director of the Rohingya Youth Association, said that life in the refugee camps in Bangladesh is "very hard" and "seemingly hopeless," but at least they are safe.
"The same army which conducted genocide on our population is now in power. Going back to Myanmar is not like jumping out of frying pan into the fire for us," he said. "It's like a plain suicide at this moment."
Douza, who held bilateral talks with the Myanmar team, was unsure what the refugees or Bangladesh got out of the visit. "They said they came here only to verify information of their IDPs for a pilot repatriation project," he told Nikkei, referring to "internally displaced persons."
"Basing on the information they gathered, their Foreign Ministry will make a decision of fixing another repatriation date," Douza said.
Last October, Bangladeshi Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen said the military government in Myanmar had agreed to take back Rohingya after verification. He also revealed that Bangladesh -- which is keen to be relieved of the problem and financial burden -- had supplied a list of 830,000 Rohingya refugees containing biometric data to the Myanmar government.
But Douza said, "In the last seven days, they have checked information of a total of 429 refugees, so you do the math of how long it might take to verify the whole list." In his assessment, "They were very vague about the actual repatriation process."
Experts questioned the motivation for the visit.
Munshi Fayez Ahmed, former chairman of the state-funded Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) think tank, said the delegation likely made the trip because the military regime is scrambling under international pressure.
"Politically, the junta faced an unprecedented national civil disobedience movement, and with the formation of the National Unity Government (NUG), the pressure only intensified, as many Western countries have recognized" the government in exile, Fayez said. "Militarily, they are fighting battles on several fronts" with armed ethnic groups.
Fayez, Bangladesh's former ambassador to China, suggested that Myanmar may have restarted the repatriation discussions at the persuasion of Beijing, which has significant financial stakes in both Bangladesh and Myanmar and wants the neighbors to be on good terms.
"But I am very doubtful about the possibility of successful repatriation of Rohingyas. They have to take them back as citizens, otherwise no one will go back," Fayez stressed.
The U.N.'s refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Sunday that it was aware of the trip by the Myanmar delegation but it "is not involved in these discussions" and its "position on return of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar remains unchanged." The statement said the "conditions in Myanmar's Rakhine state are currently not conducive to the sustainable return of Rohingya refugees," echoing previous assessments.
Three repatriation attempts since 2018 have failed, as the Rohingya refugees were unwilling to go back.
Khin Maung, executive director of the Rohingya Youth Association, said that life in the refugee camps in Bangladesh is "very hard" and "seemingly hopeless," but at least they are safe.
"The same army which conducted genocide on our population is now in power. Going back to Myanmar is not like jumping out of frying pan into the fire for us," he said. "It's like a plain suicide at this moment."
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