THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar was informed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh on 19 August 2019 that the Government of Bangladesh has undertaken all necessary measures to smoothly conduct the repatriation of displaced persons from Bangladesh, which is scheduled to start on 22 August 2019.
Based on this information, Myanmar side has made all the necessary preparations. Two Ministers of the Rakhine State Government, personnel of the respective Ministries; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population, Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, Ministry of Health and Sports, Ministry of Education, among others, waited at the Reception Centre in Taung Pyo Letwe.
They were joined by the personnel from ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) and the ASEAN ERAT Team since the morning of 22 August 2019. However, the promised repatriation failed to occur.
The Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of Japan have been trying to facilitate the smooth repatriation of displaced persons from Bangladesh. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar was informed by China on 6 August 2019 that Bangladesh intends to start the repatriation on 22 August.
Accordingly, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar received the Ambassador of Bangladesh on 9 August 2019 and asked for confirmation and also requested the list of the people to be repatriated as soon as possible. While the confirmation was given on 19 August 2019, no list was provided.
On 20 August 2019, the news media of Bangladesh was quoted the Bangladesh Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. AK Abdul Momen that both Bangladesh and Myanmar are fully ready to resume the repatriation of Rohingyas to their homeland but some Rohingya leaders and NGOs are reportedly discouraging them to return. It is learnt that members of ARSA have been using threats and intimidation to prevent the inhabitants of the Camps in Cox’s Bazar from taking part in the repatriation process.
The Myanmar side had repeatedly requested the Bangladesh side to follow the procedures set out in the bilateral agreement. This would require the agreed Verification Forms to be distributed to the inhabitants of the Camps so that the people, who agreed to return voluntarily, can sign the Forms which would then be forwarded to the Myanmar side. This procedure was not adhered to.
The list provided to Myanmar does not follow this accepted procedure. Despite this, the Myanmar side had verified the list of 3450 people. The list of these verified persons has been sent to Bangladesh authorities in seven batches since January 2019. However, it was found out that UNHCR was able to start interviews only on 20 August 2019, just two days before the stipulated date for repatriation.
Another important point is the request by Myanmar side to allow the repatriation of 444 people of Hindu faith who have expressed their desire to return to Myanmar through the Hindu elders and the Indian Embassy in Yangon. Myanmar side had informed Bangladesh its willingness to expedite the repatriation of the 444 people since 23 November 2017. There has been repeated request by Myanmar for the early repatriation of the 444 people. All these requests were ignored.
Smooth repatriation for the displaced persons would require the adherence to the bilateral agreement that the two countries have signed.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Nay Pyi Taw
22 August 2019
