POSITIVE START

THOUGH the scope and timeline of the repatriation of Rohingya refugees is yet to take shape, the agreement reached between the two governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar is very encouraging, (Dhaka, Myanmar sign deal on Rohingya,” Nov. 24, The Gulf Today).

After weeks of tussling over the terms of repatriation, the two sides consisting of Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi inked the deal in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw and reports said that the return will commence within two months.

More than 620,000 Rohingya have poured into Bangladesh since August, running from a Myanmar military crackdown that Washington said constitutes “ethnic cleansing,” but I hope this agreement will end the atrocity.

The stateless Rohingya have been the target of communal violence and vicious anti-muslim sentiment in mainly Buddhist Myanmar for years and have also been systematically oppressed by the government, which stripped the minority of citizenship and severely restricts their movement, as well as their access to basic services.

Of course rights groups are right in raising concerns about the process, including where the minority will be resettled after hundreds of their villages were razed, and how their safety will be ensured in a country where anti-muslim sentiment is surging. It will take a lot more from Suu Kyi’s government to arrive at a permanent solution to the issue but atleast a beginning has been made and that has to be respected.

Richard Lewis

Dubai