Since the communal violence in 2012, thousands of Rohingyas have faced immense trouble for their survival. Around 740,000 Rohingyas fled from Myanmar after the military crackdown in 2017 and there exists more than three dozen Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. The current number of persecuted Rohingyas in Bangladesh is above 1.2 million.
A high-level delegation of Myanmar led by U
Myint Thu; the Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary arrived in Bangladesh on
27th July’19. The Delegation comprised
of 15 members. It was a two-day visit where the delegates met both the Muslim
and Hindu Rohingya communities. In addition, the ASEAN and Myanmar delegates
held meetings with the UN and other international humanitarian agencies and the
officials from Bangladesh. After the meeting, the Myanmar officials made a
statement that the Rohingyas living in Bangladesh would be repatriated as per
the 1982 citizenship law of Myanmar. A special category citizenship status was
also offered to them by the delegates. A six-page Rohingya repatriation outline
plan was presented by the Myanmar delegation and ASEAN human rights team.
Emphasis has been laid on National Verification Card (NVC) which shall be a
temporary card until the verification for full citizenship is done. It shall be
issued to the Rohingyas during the process of the repatriation.
Also read “Myanmar
delegation’s meeting with Rohingya refugees and reactions of Rohingyas”: https://lnkd.in/gUqa-jz
Dil Mohammad, a Rohigya living in Bangladesh said, “We will not take Suicide Citizenship. Our fathers and forefathers were holders of NRC. They were full citizens of Myanmar. We need full citizenship of Myanmar”.
Mohammad Mohib
Ullah, a Rohingya representative who attended the meetings with Myanmar and
ASEAN delegates said, “We demanded the assurance of citizenship and security in
Rakhine state as a precondition for beginning of repatriation,”. He added,
“They told us many things about repatriation, however we would take final
decision after we discuss among ourselves.”
Md. Delwar Hossain,
director general of South Asian Desk of Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh said
that the main purpose of the visiting team was to talk with Rohingya refugees
in order to convince them to return to their home country [Myanmar]. A.K. Abdul
Momen, Foreign Minister of Bangladesh said that he is hopeful that repatriation
will begin by September 2019.
Moreover, a
repatriation deal was signed between Bangladesh and Myanmar in November 2017,
but none of the Rohingyas volunteered to return. Bangladesh took a strong
stance saying that it would not force any Rohingya to return under the
repatriation agreement.
The international
community too insisted that the whole process must be voluntary, and they must
be granted citizenship. This repatriation agreement was postponed from November
2018 as none of the Rohingya agreed to return to their country due to lack of
safety and dignity in Myanmar. This
meeting is seen as a step forward in solving the decade long Rohingya crisis.
Source: Rohingya
Human Rights Initiative (R4R)