No change in Rohingya IDs, docs
Dhaka has decided not to accept Naypyidaw's request to replace the words “Forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals” on identity cards issued to Rohingyas and other official documents of the refugees.
An official yesterday told The Daily Star that Myanmar requested Bangladesh during a ministerial meeting in Naypyidaw on August 10 to replace the words with “displaced persons from Rakhine State” in the cards issued by Bangladesh and the United Nations.
The official said the Bangladesh side, led by Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, did not say anything in response to Myanmar's request during the meeting, which Myanmar assumed acceptance of its request.
He said after returning to Dhaka, they evaluated their visit to northern Rakhine on August 11 and meetings with Myanmar ministers and decided not to accept Myanmar's request.
Mahmood and Minister for the Office of State Counsellor of Myanmar Kyaw Tint Swe co-chaired the meeting in Myanmar. Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement of Myanmar Win Myat Aye, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque and high civil and military officials from both sides were present.
“We cannot just push back the Rohingyas as stateless people or in any uncertain environment like in the past. This time, Bangladesh with support from the UN and other international agencies want to repatriate the Rohingyas only after a conducive atmosphere is created so that the similar exodus from Rakhine never takes place,” said the top government official.
The official, who was in the delegation to Myanmar, said Myanmar would have to ensure that Rohingyas would not be kept in any camp, they would be in their own homes, they would have freedom of movement in Rakhine State, they would be given access to basic services and livelihood, and the process of Rohingyas citizenship would start right after their return.
Talking to this correspondent yesterday, another member of the Bangladesh delegation said they visited three villages in Rakhine by a helicopter.
“We have seen a trail of devastation suffered by the Rohingya population of the northern Rakhine State. We have seen the sign of burnt trees; there is no signs of houses as those were bulldozed and levelled.”
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