Burma agrees to take back Rohingya refugees ahead of papal visit

Amnesty denounces deal as victims of ‘ethnic cleansing’ continue to arrive in Bangladesh

BURMA and Bangladesh reportedly signed a deal yesterday to allow Rohingya Muslims back to their homes in Burma, although no details were given on how they intended to help the deeply traumatised refugees return.

More than 620,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh since August after their homes were razed. Men, women and children were murdered and raped in a crackdown by the Burmese military described by US secretary of state Rex Tillerson on Wednesday as “ethnic cleansing”.

The deal, which does not specify how many Rohingya will be allowed back and how long the process will take, comes ahead of a visit of Pope Francis, who is known for his outspoken views on human rights, to Burma on Monday.

Mr Tillerson threatened penalties for military officials engaged in a vicious operation that had caused “intolerable suffering” of the Rohingya population in Burma’s northern Rakhine state, most of whom are now languishing in overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.

“After a careful and thorough analysis of available facts, it is clear that the situation in northern Rakhine state constitutes ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya,” he said, adding that those who perpetrated the atrocities “must be held accountable”.

Mr Tillerson’s statement is the strongest US condemnation yet of the crackdown, accusing Burma’s security forces of perpetrating “horrendous atrocities” against the group.

However, the office of Burmese leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi said the agreement “on the return of displaced persons from Rakhine State” was signed yesterday by Cabinet officials in Naypyidaw, Burma’s capital.

It said that a working group would be set up within three weeks to agree arrangements for the repatriation.

The government added that the pact follows a formula set in a 1992 repatriation agreement between the two nations after an earlier outbreak of violence. Under that deal, Rohingya were required to present residency documents, which few have, before returning to Burma.

Human rights advocates responded with scepticism to the deal, with Amnesty International denouncing it as “simply unthinkable”.

“While precise details of this deal have not yet been revealed, talk of returns is clearly premature at a time when Rohingya refugees continue to trickle into Bangladesh on an almost daily basis,” said Charmain Mohamed, Amnesty’s director for refugee and migrant rights.