Bangladesh Says Myanmar Delaying Rohingya Repatriation

Rasa - Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina on Sunday stated that Myanmar was delaying the Rohingya repatriation process without a specific cause.

News ID: 439372

Date: 03 September 2018 - 21:18

RNA - “When we talk, Myanmar always says it is ready to take back its nationals[...] .But the reality is that they say it, but don’t do it,” she said at a news conference held in Dhaka following a two-day visit to Nepal to attend a BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) summit, a seven-nation economic bloc of South Asia and South East Asia, Anadolu Agency reported.

Hasina added that the Rohingya issue was not discussed at the event but that she had met Myanmar President Win Myint at the summit.

“He acknowledged the agreement that we have inked. Myanmar says they are ready to take back their nationals,” Hasina stated.

Last December Bangladesh and Myanmar signed an agreement to repatriate Rohingya but the process is yet to start.

Since August 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).

According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly children and women, have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

The UN has documented mass gang rapes, killings --- including of infants and young children --- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by Myanmar state forces. In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.

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