Rohingyas going home ‘laughable’
Yangon – Human rights groups yesterday called for international agencies to be allowed to monitor the planned repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims from Bangladesh to the homes they fled in Myanmar during the past three months.
The two governments signed a pact on Thursday settling terms for the repatriation process. They aim to start the return of Rohingya in two months, to reduce pressures in the refugee camps that have mushroomed in the Cox’s Bazar region of Bangladesh.
“The idea that Burma will now welcome them back to their smouldering villages with open arms is laughable,” said Bill Frelick, refugee rights director at Human Rights Watch, using the former name for Myanmar.
“Instead of signing on to a public relations stunt, the international community should make it clear that there can be no returns without international monitors to ensure security, an end to the idea of putting returnees in camps, the return of land and the rebuilding of destroyed homes and villages.”
More than 600 000 Rohingya sought sanctuary in Bangladesh after Myanmar’s military launched a brutal counter-insurgency in their villages across northern parts of Rakhine State, following attacks by Rohingya militants.
The United Nations and US have described the military’s actions as “ethnic cleansing”, and rights groups have accused security forces of atrocities, including mass rape, arson and killings.
While Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said repatriation of the largely stateless Muslim minority would be based on residency and would be “safe and voluntary”, there were concerns that the country’s autonomous military could prove obstructive.
The memorandum of understanding signed by Myanmar and Bangladesh said a joint working group would be set up within three weeks to prepare the way for the Rohingyas return.
But it gave scant details about the criteria of return and of what role, if any, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, could play
“It is standard practice in voluntary repatriation operations that UNHCR would be involved to ensure international standards are met for any type of return agreement,” said UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic. – Reuters