Governments of Bangladesh and Myanma didn’t reach an agreement on Rohingya repatriating issue. On Monday, Bangladesh rejects a claim by Myanmar that the Buddhist-majority nation had repatriated the first five among some 700,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees.
On Friday, Bangladesh had signed a memorandum of understanding with the UN Refugee Agency, on voluntary return of Rohingya refugees once conditions in Myanmar are conducive. The MoU established a framework of cooperation between UNHCR and Bangladesh on the safe, voluntary and dignified returns of refugees in line with international standards.
Despite the official agreement, Bangladesh’s refugee, relief and repatriation commissioner, Abul Kalam, said the Rohingya family involved had never crossed the border.
‘By no definition can this be called repatriation. No repatriation has taken place. Bangladesh is no way part of it,’
he said.
Bangladesh-Myanmar repatriating crisis is getting stronger
A Myanmar government statement said Saturday that five members of a family had returned to western Rakhine state from the border area. It said the family was staying temporarily with relatives in Maungdaw town, the administrative centre close to the border. However, the statement did not say whether any more repatriations were being planned. While Bangladesh has given Myanmar a list of more than 8,000 refugees to start the repatriation process, there have been delays due to a complicated verification process.
Asaduzzaman Khan, Bangladesh’s home minister, said Myanmar’s claim that the family had been “repatriated” was just a farce. On Monday, he assured that the family had never reached Bangladeshi territory.
“I hope Myanmar will take all the Rohingya families back within the shortest possible time,”
home minister added.
Bangladesh’s refugee, relief and repatriation commissioner, Abul Kalam, said the Rohingya family involved had never crossed the border.
“By no definition can this be called repatriation. No repatriation has taken place. Bangladesh is no way part of it,”
he said by phone.
