Rohingya Repatriation: Myanmar wants to start the process

Myanmar has expressed its interest in repatriating 65,000 Rohingya Muslims who entered Bangladesh in the last two months, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali said yesterday.

“Primarily, Myanmar has expressed its interest in starting the process of verifying their [the Muslims of Myanmar who intruded into Bangladesh] claim regarding their citizenship and permanent residence to repatriate them,” he said.

Mahmood Ali was speaking at a press conference at the foreign ministry following Myanmar's special envoy U Kyaw Tin's meetings with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and foreign ministry officials led by the minister on Wednesday.

Tin's three-day visit, which ends today, comes at a time when Rohingya influx has become an issue of serious concern for Bangladesh.

Illegal presence of a large number of Myanmar citizens has long been affecting the stability and the economic development in Chittagong, especially in Cox's Bazar, Mahmood Ali said.

The fresh influx began in last year's mid October after insurgents, believed to be mostly from the “stateless” Rohingya minority, attacked Myanmar border posts on October 9, killing nine police officers there.

The Myanmar Muslims who fled to Bangladesh alleged that they were tortured by the Myanmar authorities. There are 33,000 registered Rohingya refugees living in Cox's Bazar and another three lakh unregistered ones in the same and adjourning districts.

Mahmood Ali said Bangladesh requested the speedy repatriation of all the Rohingya Muslims -- registered or unregistered -- and proposed preparing an action plan in this regard.

In response, Myanmar's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs U Kyaw Tin U Kyaw Tin said it was important for them to verify the identities of those seeking citizenship.

Bangladesh also proposed formation of a commission to assess the issue of providing citizenship or permanent residence to the Muslims of Myanmar's Rakhine state.

Bangladesh requested the Myanmar envoy to take steps for ensuring life and livelihood of the Rohingyas in the Rakhine state so that their influx to Bangladesh stops, and for identifying the reasons why they flee to Bangladesh, Mahmood Ali said.

He also said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told the Myanmar envoy that effective steps for repatriation of the Myanmar citizens from Bangladesh can help boost bilateral relations between the two neighbours. 

Meanwhile, Tin indicated a potential rise in extremism in Myanmar and sought Bangladesh's assistance in this regard.

In response, Mahmood Ali said, Bangladesh informed Tin of the country's “zero tolerance” policy against terrorism and militancy, and assured him of full assistance from Bangladesh.

The prime minister told the envoy that Myanmar should become sincere in solving the problems of the Muslim minorities in Rakhine where they are deprived of their rights, and should stop marginalising them to check extremism.

Hasina also told him Bangladesh will not allow its land to be used by any insurgents, and that the country had earlier campaigned against Myanmar's insurgency group, Arakan Army.  

Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed to sign two memorandums of understating (MoUs) on holding dialogue on security, cooperation and setting up of a border liaison office to boost cooperation between the two neighbours, the minister said.

“The visit [of Tin] will widen the way of discussing complex issues of the two countries,” he said, expecting a lasting solution to issue of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine.