UN agency to be involved in Rohingya repatriation

Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to involve the UN refugee agency to safely repatriate hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who fled violence in Myanmar.

Bangladeshi foreign minister Abul Hassan Ali yesterday gave assurances that the United Nations High Commission for Refugees would play some part.

“Both countries agreed to take help from the UNHCR in the Rohingya repatriation process,” Mr Ali said.

A joint working group, to be formed within three weeks, would fix the final terms for the repatriation process to begin, he said.

Uncertainty over whether the UN would have a role had prompted rights groups to insist that outside monitors were needed to protect the Rohingya.

More than 600,000 have fled to Bangladesh from their villages in northern Rakhine state after the Myanmar military launched a brutal operation in response to attacks by Rohingya militants on an army base and police posts on August 25.

Faced with a growing humanitarian crisis, Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a pact on Thursday agreeing that the return of the Rohingya should start in two months.

The diplomatic breakthrough comes just before Pope Francis begins a visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh aimed at promoting “reconciliation, forgiveness and peace”.

While the violence in Rakhine is mostly over, Rohingya have continued to stream out of Myanmar, saying they have lost access to sources of livelihood such as their farms, fisheries and markets.

Thousands of Rohingya, most of them old people, women and children, remain stranded on beaches near the border, waiting for a boat to take them to Bangladesh.

After leaving the refugee camps in Bangladesh, Rohingya who want to be repatriated will be moved to makeshift camps in Myanmar near to their abandoned homes, Mr Ali said.

“Homes have been burnt to the ground in Rakhine that need to be rebuilt,” Mr Ali said. “We have proposed Myanmar to take help from India and China for building camps.”

The UN and US have described the Myanmar military’s actions as “ethnic cleansing”, and rights groups have accused the security forces of atrocities including mass rape, arson and killings. The US also warned it could impose sanctions on people responsible.

Led by Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar is in the early stages of a transition to democracy after decades of military rule.

The commander of Myanmar’s armed forces, Gen Min Aung Hlaing, has denied that soldiers committed any atrocities.

Under the deal struck with Bangladesh, Myanmar will ensure those returning will not be settled in temporary places for a long time and will issue them identity cards for national verification immediately on their return, Mr Ali said.

But Rohingya activist Mohammad Zubair said they would “never agree to voluntary repatriation if they are not taken back to their villages and have their land returned to them”.

Mr Zubair said Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a similar repatriation agreement in 1992, which led to the return of about 200,000 Rohingya to Rakhine, but unresolved problems, including the issue of citizenship, continued to fester.

Rohingya will never agree to voluntary repatriation if they are not taken back to their villages MOHAMMAD ZUBAIR Rohingya activist