Rohingya delegation's Myanmar visit: Original land, villages sought in first homecoming in 6yrs

The villages the Rohingyas fled in Rakhine State's Maungdaw town are no longer the same and they wish to return to exactly where they lived. 

They don't want to stay in the new homes or settlements built for them by the Myanmar side, sources told The Business Standard.

Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, who was among the Bangladesh delegation, said before visiting the Rakhine state Rohingya citizens said the village they used to live in isn't the same anymore. They want to return to exactly where they used to live, he added.

In this case, the Myanmar government has said if the Rohingyas want to return to where they lived before they have to show National Verification Cards (NVCs), said the RRRC.

The delegation left for Myanmar from Jaliapara Ghat in Teknaf, Cox's Bazar, at around 9:30am on Friday. 

They reached Maungdaw at around 11:00am, confirmed RRRC Mohammad Mizanur Rahman.

The delegation comprises 20 Rohingya community leaders from different camps of Ukhiya, Teknaf in Cox's Bazar. Out of them 17 are men and 3 women. Apart from this, there are 7 Bangladeshi officers who are engaged in Rohingya related work.

Among them are RRRC Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, Additional RRRC Md Khaled Hossain, other officials and an interpreter.

Mizanur Rahman said the visit had been arranged to see if the environment and conditions in Rakhine state are favourable for repatriation.

On 15 March, a delegation from the Myanmar Immigration Department reached Teknaf to discuss the issue of Rohingya repatriation. During their visit, the list of Rohingyas, taking refuge in Bangladesh, sent to Myanmar was reviewed. They also discussed the authenticity of children born to the listed Rohingyas throughout their stay in the country.

However, the delegation left the country on 22 March without reaching any settlement on the agenda.

On 18 April, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen held a tripartite meeting with representatives from China and Myanmar in Kunming with an aim to expedite the process of Rohingya repatriation.

On the same day Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said there have been two attempts to begin repatriation of the Rohingyas in the past but those efforts went in vain.

Momen said the Chinese side facilitates the discussion between Bangladesh and Myanmar and hoped that the Rohingyas will start returning to their homes.

China has been facilitating the discussion between Bangladesh and Myanmar for a swift repatriation.

Previously, on 13 March, Li Jiming, the outgoing Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh said "I think some progress has been made. But unfortunately, there is no significant officially organised repatriation yet. Hopefully, this year we will achieve that."

On 15 March, the newly appointed Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen said, "Hopefully on the joint efforts of all the parties, hopefully these first batch of right issues could be taken place very soon," he told a Spring Dialogue with journalists at the Chinese Embassy on Tuesday.

The envoy said it is very unfortunate that the Rohingya repatriation could not start, though China initiated a tripartite arrangement between Bangladesh and Myanmar.

According to RRRC office sources, after the Rohingya influx started on 25 August 2017, in 2018, Bangladesh gave a list of 882,000 Rohingyas to Myanmar for repatriation. After sorting through the list, Myanmar finally sent a list of only 68,000 Rohingya back to Bangladesh.