Rohingya repatriation: Myanmar team due today to meet refugees

A high level Myanmar delegation, led by Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary U Myint Thu, is scheduled to visit the Cox's Bazar Rohingya camps today (Saturday) to encourage them to go back to their homes in Rakhine State.

The delegation comprises officials from the Social Welfare Ministry and the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine.

"We expect a positive outcome from this visit and we hope that this will pave the way for quick repatriation," Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told the FE.

According to the minister, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's recent visit to Beijing was the "game-changer."

A change in the mindset among the top rung of the Myanmar government was evident after the PM's meeting with President Xi, he said.

However, Myanmar foreign ministry officials said the visit to the refugee camp in Cox's Bazar aimed at 'advancing the repatriation process of displaced people from Rakhine.'

"We will explain our implementation of the repatriation and encourage participation in the voluntary return," a senior foreign affairs official told the media in Myanmar prior to the visit.

U Ko Ko Naing, a member of the delegation, said they would meet with refugee families during the three-day visit.

"We will give them details of what we are preparing for the returnees," he said, adding the delegation will give more details on the trip to Bangladesh on Tuesday.

Myanmar and Bangladesh signed a repatriation deal in November 2017 and agreed that the first batch of 2,251 refugees from northern Rakhine State would return to Myanmar on November 15, but the refugees expressed their unwillingness to return home fearing fresh persecution from the Myanmar security forces.

Bangladesh foreign minister believed that a severe trust-deficit prompted the Rohngya to turn down the repatriation plan last time.

It is up to Myanmar to convince them that they would be safe after going back, he said.

"We were able to repatriate 230 thousand Rohingya in 1992 and this time we hope that we will be able to repatriate them with safety and dignity," he told the FE.

Contacted, commissioner of the Refugee Rehabilitation and Repatriation Commission (RRRC) Mohammad Abul Kalam said necessary preparations have been taken to ensure a smooth visit of the Myanmar delegation.

He said that the authorities will step up security in the camps during the tour of the delegation.

The two governments signed a repatriation deal in November 2017, but so far virtually no Rohingya agreed to return voluntarily.

Dr Momen made it clear Bangladesh will not force any Rohingya to leave.

Earlier in the month, Myanmar's UN Ambassador Hau Do Suan told a General Assembly meeting his government will dispatch a high level delegation to Cox's Bazar by the end of July to brief the displaced people about the arrangements made for the repatriation and resettlement.

The ambassador said some 30,000 Rohingya had sought return, of whom about 13,200 have been verified as former residents and "can return to Rakhine anytime."

In the meeting, the UN Ambassador to Myanmar Christine Schraner-Burgener, however, complained that progress to address the refugee crisis has been "far too slow."

"The only viable solution to the refugees is the safe, voluntary and dignified repatriation to Myanmar," she said, adding, "And the key responsibility for creating conducive conditions in Rakhine lies with Myanmar."

According to UN reports, the Rohingya Muslims were subjected to a campaign of killings, rape, arbitrary arrests, and arson attacks by the military and Buddhist mobs in Rakhine mainly between late 2016 and August 2017.

Last week, Yanghee Lee, UN special rapporteur, said after a visit to Thailand and Malaysia that human rights violations in Myanmar are creating issues for South and Southeast Asia.

Lee said victims need to receive reparations for the harm caused to them and they have a right to know the truth about what happened to them, their family members and their communities.

Over 700,000 refugees have fled northern Rakhine to Bangladesh since the beginning of the brutal crackdown by the Myanmar military against them on August 25, 2017.

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