Despite the agreement signed between Bangladesh and Myanmar on repatriating stranded Rohingyas, we are still witnessing Rohingyas crossing the border into Bangladesh. According to a report by AFP, more than 3,000 refugees have come into Bangladesh since the two sides inked an agreement on repatriation less than week ago. 

Clearly, the guiding principles of the agreement that was signed included the following: "Myanmar had agreed to take necessary steps to halt the outflow of Myanmar residents to Bangladesh, to restore normalcy in Northern Rakhine" and that the government there would help in returning these displaced people to safely return to their original places of residence. But regrettably, that Rohingyas continue to come to Bangladesh is a failure on Myanmar's part to live up to the agreement.

It is obvious that the violence that ripped through the Rakhine state over the past months has not stopped, in which case, precisely how will the agreement be implemented? Are we then to assume that the agreement signed was a ploy by the Myanmar side to ease off some of the international condemnation it had been facing due to its failure to safeguard the physical security of the Rohingya populace?

In an earlier editorial on the November 23Agreement, we had stated clearly that the real test of Myanmar's commitment to fulfil the provisos of the agreement can only be demonstrated by Myanmar abjuring the path of violence in the Rakhine State. The continued exodus of Rohingyas doesn't reflect that.