Rohingya Refugees: Repatriation Faces A Hitch

Rasa - The return of Rohingyas was scheduled to begin tomorrow, but some of the major tasks including finalisation of the list of families and setting up of repatriation camps remain incomplete while this makes the start of repatriation on the announced date uncertain.

News ID: 435931

Date: 22 January 2018 - 17:32

RNA - The repatriation is set to begin tomorrow according to the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the Bangladesh-Myanmar Joint Working Group, signed after a foreign secretary-level meeting in Dhaka on December 19, The Daily Star reported.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmud Ali briefed the diplomats at the state guest house Padma in the capital days after Myanmar and Bangladesh signed a physical arrangement on repatriation on January 16.

However, asked about the beginning of the repatriation tomorrow, Mahmud said “I won't give any date. But, you see, the process has already begun.”

Contacted, Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Abul Kalam stressed, "We are preparing the list of the Rohingya families as agreed in the first meeting of Joint Working Group."

The registration forms for the refugee families were finalised on January 16 and the authorities are now making the list, he said, adding that the entire preparation needs some time.

A refugee has to provide information, including name, gender, birthplace, parents' names, date of birth, address in Myanmar, profession, number of family members and a family photo.

Bangladesh will hand over the list of Rohingya families to the Myanmar authorities. After verification, they will send a list of the persons they find eligible for repatriation.

Based on that list from Myanmar, Bangladesh will take the selected Rohingya families to the repatriation camps to be set up within Bangladesh near the border. At the camps, the UN Refugee Agency will assess if the refugees are willing to return, Kalam stated.

The refugees who agree to return voluntarily will be handed over to Myanmar authorities, he said. Those Rohingyas will be sheltered in a temporary camp on Myanmar side before homes are built for them.

"We are preparing to set up the repatriation camps," Abul Kalam told The Daily Star yesterday.

Meanwhile, tensions mounted in the Rohingya camps where refugees are demanding that Myanmar publicly announce it would grant them long-denied citizenship and include them on the list of the country's recognised ethnic groups.

They are also asking that their homes, mosques and schools that were burned down or damaged in the military operation be rebuilt. They want the Myanmar military is held accountable for alleged killings and looting and rape.

Reuters reported that dozens of refugees stood holding cloth banners opposing their repatriation as UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee visited camps along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border on Saturday.

Over a million Rohingyas, including the 655,000 who crossed over from Myanmar since a brutal military crackdown began in Rakhine on August 25, have been brought under biometric registration.

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