Myanmar responds positively to begin Rohingya repatriation: FM

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Sunday said Myanmar responded positively to begin Rohingya repatriation with the next round of talks scheduled for the first week of February.

"We got some positive responses. We told them it's an opportunity for you (Myanmar) to take back your nationals," he told reporters after attending a programme in the city.

The Foreign Minister said they gave a figure to begin the repatriation and Bangladesh asked them to begin.

Dr Momen said peace and development in the region will be hampered if the Rohingya issue is not resolved.

He said a Director-General level meeting with Myanmar will be held in the first week of February this year.

In a separate briefing, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said they briefed the Indian side about the recently held tripartite meeting among Bangladesh, Myanmar and China; and the roadmap ahead for repatriation.

He said Bangladesh expressed its hope that India will support in ensuring safety, security and sustainable livelihood of Rohingyas once they cross the border through repatriation.

The Foreign Secretary said Bangladesh also shared Japan's interest in this regard and it will boost confidence among Rohingyas if India does the job together with Japan.

"They (Indian side) listened to our position with interest and said they remain engaged with Myanmar," he said.   

The Foreign Secretary referred to China's welcoming of "constructive engagement" from the international community in the process.  

Myanmar had earlier said that they are committed to beginning the repatriation of Rohingyas as per the bilateral agreement signed with Bangladesh in 2017.

Myanmar's International Cooperation Minister Kyaw Tin conveyed it to Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen in a recent letter.

The Myanmar Minister also said they are committed to ensuring peaceful relations with all neighbours, including Bangladesh and resolving any problem peacefully.

Kyaw Tin said they want to resolve any bilateral issues with neighbours through mutual partnership.

He hoped to begin the repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar soon through the tripartite talks held among Bangladesh, Myanmar and China on January 19.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said Bangladesh has handed over a list of 840,000 Rohingyas to Myanmar for verification.

"Myanmar has verified very few people. They're very slow. They verified only 42,000 people (5 percent). There's a serious lack of seriousness," said the Foreign Minister.

Dr Momen said they are doing their part but Myanmar is not helping the same way. He said he is always hopeful of beginning repatriation as history says they took back their nationals in 1978 and 1992.

Rohingya repatriation: 'Lack of trust'

More than three years ago, Myanmar's soldiers "targeted, killed, and raped" Rohingya and burned their villages, as the United Nations, Refugees International, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the US State Department itself, and many others have documented.

Over 800,000 Rohingyas fled the "genocidal violence" and Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas.

Bangladesh is trying in multiple ways - bilaterally, multilaterally, tri-laterally, and through the judicial system – to find a lasting solution to the Rohingya crisis.

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed the repatriation deal on November 23, 2017.

They then signed a document on "Physical Arrangement", which was supposed to facilitate the return of Rohingyas to their homeland.

But repatriation attempts failed twice in November 2018 and August 2019 - clearly amid Rohingyas' "lack of trust" in the Myanmar government and things would have been different had they returned.

Subsequently during the 74th UNGA held in September 2019 in New York, China took an initiative to propose the tripartite framework with their presence largely in an overseeing role, that can nevertheless hold both sides to account on their respective commitments to each other.

The Bangladesh side had already complained of Myanmar acting in 'bad faith' during negotiations, whereby they never had any intention of taking the Rohingya back and was only meeting to keep up appearances.

However, soon after a meeting of the trio on January 20, 2020, the coronavirus lockdowns started taking its toll in different parts of the world.

Bangladesh pushed Myanmar hard on creating a favourable environment for Rohingya repatriation with an expeditious verification process and "cautiously expressed optimism" to begin it in the second quarter of this year.