YANGON/COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Rohingya
refugees returning to Myanmar will have no explicit guarantees of citizenship
or freedom of movement throughout the country, under a secret agreement between
the government and the United Nations seen by Reuters.
The UN struck an outline deal with Myanmar at the end of
May aimed at eventually allowing hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims
sheltering in Bangladesh to return safely and by choice, but did not make the
details of the deal public.
Reuters on Friday reviewed a copy of the memorandum of
understanding (MoU) agreed between the UN and Myanmar authorities. The draft
also leaked out online.
Citizenship and rights of refugees who return to Myanmar
were key points of contention during negotiations over the agreement to restore
access to conflict-ravaged Rakhine state for UN agencies that have been barred
since last August.
The MoU states “returnees will enjoy the same freedom of
movement as all other Myanmar nationals in Rakhine State, in conformity with
existing laws and regulations”.
However, it does not guarantee freedom of movement beyond
the borders of Rakhine or address the laws and regulations that currently
prevent Rohingya from traveling freely, according to the text seen by Reuters.
Refugee leaders and human rights groups say the agreement
fails to ensure basic rights for the Rohingya, some 700,000 of whom have fled a
military crackdown some Western countries have called “ethnic cleansing”.
“As it stands, returning Rohingya to Rakhine means
returning them to an apartheid state – a place where they can’t move around
freely and struggle to access schools, hospitals and places they rely on for
work,” said Laura Haigh, Amnesty International’s Myanmar researcher. “Nothing
in this document provides any guarantees that this will change.”
The UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, has previously called
the MoU a “first and necessary step to establish a framework for cooperation”
with the government.
Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay and Social Welfare
Minister Win Myat Aye did not answer multiple phone calls seeking comment. The
director of the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, and Population said he was not
authorized to comment and directed enquiries to the permanent secretary, who
did not answer the phone.
Reuters confirmed the contents of the MoU with sources at
two international non-governmental organizations. The May 30 draft seen by
Reuters was written a day before the deal was signed, but the phrasing of key
sections was consistent with a background briefing by UNHCR for diplomats and
NGOs also seen by Reuters, and a letter from UNHCR explaining the agreement
delivered to refugees in Bangladesh.
“VERY ANGRY”
Rights groups and aid agencies said the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees and the UN Development Programme, which spent months
negotiating the deal, had not won strong concessions from the Myanmar
government, especially on the key issues of citizenship and freedom of
movement.
A UN spokeswoman said its policy was “not to comment on
leaked documents”.
“UNDP and UNHCR and the government of Myanmar continue
the discussion about publicly releasing the text of the MoU,” the spokeswoman
said in an emailed statement.
Buddhist-majority Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingya
as an indigenous ethnic group and so denies citizenship to most. The government
refers to them as “Bengalis”, a term they reject as it implies they are
interlopers from Bangladesh even though many trace their roots in the country
back generations.
The MoU, which does not refer to refugees as Rohingya,
requires the government to “issue to all returnees the appropriate
identification papers and ensure a clear and voluntary pathway to citizenship
for those eligible”.
But most Rohingya leaders say they will not return
without guarantees of citizenship and reject the National Verification Card, an
alternative identity document Myanmar has been pushing them to accept, saying
it classifies life-long residents as new immigrants and does not allow free
travel.
On Monday, Reuters reported a senior Myanmar official
told Western diplomats that a proposal to review a citizenship law that
effectively renders Rohingya stateless could not be implemented.
“We are very angry with this MoU,” said Mohibullah,
chairman of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, a Rohingya
organization based in the refugee camps in Bangladesh. “It does not mention the
term Rohingya. Also it says free movement within Rakhine state, but that is
very difficult for us.”
He said Rohingya had been told by UNHCR officials that
the agreement was solely about granting access to northern Rakhine for aid
agencies. “We will not accept this MoU.”