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A Rohingya Muslim woman and her
son cry after being
caught by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) while
illegally
crossing at a border check point in Cox’s Bazar ,
Bangladesh, November 21, 2016
REUTERS
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Myanmar to take back 2,415 ‘citizens,’ no mention of
Rohingyas
Myanmar has for decades said Rohingyas are illegal
immigrants from Bangladesh and it has declined to grant them citizenship
Myanmar said on Friday it would take back 2,415 “citizens”
from Bangladesh, only a tiny fraction of the 300,000 people who Bangladesh says
are Myanmar citizens taking refuge there and should go home.
“There are only 2,415 Myanmar citizens, according to our
data,” Kyaw Zaya, director general of Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
said, referring to the number of Myanmar citizens in Bangladesh.
“We always stand with our number,” he said, adding he had
“no idea” about the Bangladesh figure of 300,000.
He said the Myanmar government had a plan to take back the
2,415 in 2017.
Myanmar earlier agreed to take back 2,415 Rohingyas from the
two registered camps in Bangladesh after the eighth foreign secretary-level
talks in Dhaka in August 2014. The process was supposed to begin within two
months, but it did not happen. After 2005, it was the first time Myanmar agreed
to repatriate Rohingyas from Bangladesh.
Less than 300,000 Rohingyas registered their names during a
census carried out in six coastal areas in May by the Bangladesh Bureau of
Statistics, according to primary data.
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In this November 22, 2016 photo
supplied by Amnesty
International, Rohingya refugees cross the border into
Bangladesh close to Whaikyang in Cox’s Bazar District,
Bangladesh Amnesty
International via AP
|
Tension has been rising between the neighbours over
Myanmar’s treatment of ethnic minority Rohingya Muslims, about 50,000 of whom
Bangladesh says have fled there since the Myanmar army launched a crackdown on
its side of their border in October.
Bangladesh on Thursday summoned the Myanmar envoy in Dhaka
to demand the “early repatriation of all Myanmar citizens from Bangladesh,” its
foreign affairs ministry said in a statement, giving the figure of 300,000.
Bangladesh demands Myanmar take back Rohingyas: http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/foreign-affairs/2016/12/29/myanmar-envoy-summoned-shooting-fishermen/
Myanmar raids against Rohingyas may be crimes
against humanity: http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/2016/12/19/ai-myanmar-raids-rohingyas-tantamount-crimes-humanity/
Myanmar has for decades said Rohingyas are illegal
immigrants from Bangladesh and it has declined to grant them citizenship.
Bangladesh says the Rohingyas are Myanmar citizens and it
has refused to grant refugee status to those who have fled there, many from
communal violence and Myanmar army crackdowns over the past decades.
Security has deteriorated sharply in Myanmar’s northwestern
Rakhine State, home to many Rohingyas, since attacks on security posts near the
border with Bangladesh on October 9 in which nine police officers were killed.
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This handout photograph was
released by the Myanmar
Armed Forces on November 13, 2016, with information
stating that Myanmar soldiers are putting out a fire in
Wapeik village located
in Maungdaw in Rakhine State
near the Bangladesh border on November 13 AFP
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The government of predominantly Buddhist Myanmar has blamed
militants with links to Islamists overseas for the attacks and poured troops
into the region.
Rights groups and residents say widespread abuses have
occurred during the Myanmar military operation over the weeks since then.
Myanmar has denied the accusations, saying many of the
reports of abuses are fabricated, and it insists the strife in Rakhine State is
an internal matter.
While Bangladesh says 50,000 people have fled there since
October, the UN says the number is 34,000.
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High-definition satellite
imagery shows widespread
fire-related destruction in ethnic Rohingya villages
in
Burma’s Rakhine State. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
|
The violence in Rakhine State has become the biggest
challenge facing Aung San Suu Kyi’s government and has sparked international
criticism that the Nobel Peace Prize winner has done too little to help the
Muslim minority.
Bangladesh has asked Myanmar to “urgently address the “root
cause” of the problem” and said it was ready to “discuss process and modalities
of repatriation with Myanmar.”
Adding to the tension, this week Bangladesh’s border force
accused the Myanmar navy of opening fire on a fishing boat in the Bay of Bengal.
‘I left my husband and children burning’: http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/2016/12/09/left-husband-children-burning/
IOM: 21,000 Rohingyas flee to Bangladesh from
Myanmar: http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/south-asia/2016/12/06/iom-21000-rohingya-flee-bangladesh-myanmar/