By MRATT KYAW THU | FRONTIER
TAUNGPYO LETWE, Rakhine State — The immigration chief of
Maungdaw District says authorities will prevent entry of any person deemed to
not have resided in Myanmar before the most recent rounds of violence in
Rakhine State.
“We won’t accept anyone who has not been scrutinised and
if some people are found to be citizens of [Bangladesh], we can take action
with the related laws,” Maungdaw Immigration Department director Ko Ko Thaw
told reporters on Wednesday.
Preparations are underway to accommodate the return and
resettlement of around 700,000 Rohingya refugees to have fled northern Rakhine
State since October 2016, following the finalisation of a bilateral deal
between Myanmar and Bangladesh on January 16.
Refugee returns were scheduled to begin on Tuesday but
Bangladesh announced a postponement the day before, with Refugee Relief and
Repatriation Commissioner Mr Mohammad Abul Kalam citing the need for further
preparation.
U Zaw Htay, the spokesperson for the Office of State
Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, said the Myanmar government had not received
any official communication from Dhaka on the delay.
On the ground in Maungdaw, local officials are also in
the dark.
“We don’t know too much about the upper level, we’re just
waiting for our orders,” said U Ye Htoo, the deputy director of the Maungdaw
District General Administration Department.
On Wednesday, Rakhine State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu
visited temporary camps and processing centres at the border village of
Taungpyo Letwe, which will be the first entry point for refugees returning to
Myanmar.
Further camps and facilities are being built at Ngakhura
village, for refugees returning across the Naf River.
According to the government’s plan, returnees held at
these locations will be sent to Hla Pho Kaung and Oh Htain villages, where
Muslim and Hindu returnees will be housed separately.
“All those people will be processed through biometric
printing and of course National Verification Cards,” said U Ko Ko Thaw. “We are
all set up for that as we brought machines and papers.”
Frontier visited the new facilities on Wednesday. Work at
Taungpyo Letwe has finished, while the main camps at Hla Pho Khaung and Oh
Htain are still being built.
In addition to wooden domiciles, tents have been erected
at Hla Pho Khaung to house additional returnees. Facilities appear equipped to
accommodate up to 1,000 people.
Government spokespeople maintain that Myanmar is ready to
accept returnees.
Officials in Bangladesh have said that the repatriation
process will be concluded after two years, but Myanmar has pledged to accept
1,500 refugees per week. At that rate, it would take nearly nine years to
repatriate all those who fled.