Failure of Rohingya repatriation bid: Govt hits back at Myanmar with counter-accusation

The government on Sunday lambasted Myanmar for claiming that Bangladesh was not cooperating in starting the repatriation of Rohingyas.

Terming the allegation as ill-motivated and baseless, the government blamed Myanmar for not fulfilling certain conditions placed by Rohingyas prior to their return, said a press release issued by the Foreign Ministry.

After the failure of the Rohingya repatriation bid for the second time, Myanmar accused Bangladesh of noncooperation in the repatriation effort.

“Accusing Bangladesh of noncooperation by a party who is fully responsible for the protracted crisis is baseless, ill-motivated and totally unacceptable,” the press release added.

Bangladesh claimed that the Myanmar delegation was unable to report any progress with respect to citizenship, rights, and security for the voluntary return of Rohingya refugees to their homeland.

On its part, Bangladesh had ensured all necessary arrangements.

Bangladesh handed over a list of 3,450 Rohingyas verified by Myanmar to the UNHCR through the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Dhaka on 8 August 201. This was to ascertain whether these people are ready to return voluntarily to Rakhine under the present circumstances.

From the list, the UNHCR interviewed 339 families, comprising of 1,276 individuals, till 22 August this year.

In the interview process, all available information and the fact-sheets provided by the Government of Myanmar were shared with the families concerned.

Unfortunately, none of the families interviewed agreed to return under the existing circumstances because they consider the overall environment in Rakhine is not yet conducive to their return.

Almost all the families interviewed expressed deep concern over the security situation in Rakhine.

Earlier, in November last year, the Rohingya refused to go back to their homeland, and instead placed some demands that they wanted fulfilled before they consider returning.

As per bilateral instruments on repatriation, the responsibility of encouraging the displaced people to opt for voluntary return lies entirely on Myanmar, the media release said.

“In fact, Myanmar needs to take decisive action with demonstrable political will to reasonably address the core concerns of Rohingyas, in line with the spirit and provisions of the bilateral instruments on repatriation, and the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, in order to create a conducive environment for their return to northern Rakhine.”

During the recent interactions with the high-level delegation from Myanmar, led by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on 27-28 July 2019, the representatives of the Rohingya called for the presence of international civilian monitors in northern Rakhine to guarantee security and to monitor the repatriation and reintegration process.

The Myanmar delegation also agreed to continue dialogues with the Rohingya people at frequent intervals to find mutually acceptable solutions, at the earliest time possible, on core issues including granting of fundamental rights and citizenship.

Myanmar must also assume responsibility for encouraging Rohingyas to opt for voluntary return by sharing authentic information with them in all possible ways.

Bangladesh urged Myanmar to fully concentrate on the implementation of its obligations and commitments necessary for a durable solution to the problem.