DHAKA and Naypyidaw both are now making final preparations to repatriate and receive the first batch of Rohingya Muslims despite protest from different quarters for not ensuring their security and fearless movement. According to media reports, Rakhine State’s Chief Minister Nyi Pu insisted on completion of the finishing touches on buildings, medical clinics and sanitation infrastructures during a recent visit to reception centres near its border. Both the countries recently have agreed to complete the return of the Rohingya refugees within two years, with the process due to begin on January 23, though the UN Agencies and humanitarian groups have expressed grave concern over the agreement. Firstly, the refugees will be moved from five camps of Cox’s Bazar to two reception centres and later they will be taken to the temporary accommodation at a 124-acre camp near Maungdaw.
Dhaka will provide an advance list of prospective returnees with forms attesting to their residency in Myanmar while some returnees will cross over by land and others via Naf River, the media report said. But it is remained unclear whether refugees would be forced to return against their will. The repatriation process, however, could face obstacles as Rohingya leaders in a refugee camp have drawn up a list of demands they want Myanmar to meet before starting repatriation. In a petition, handwritten in Burmese, the Rohingya leaders said none of the Muslim Rohingyas would return to Myanmar unless the demands were met. They fear continued military operations in Rakhine State and a prolonged stay in temporary camp. They have also placed some other conditions for repatriation, including holding the military accountable for alleged killings, looting and rape, and the release from jails of ‘innocent Rohingyas’ picked up in counter-insurgency operations.
UN Secretary General António Guterres has said the repatriation deal needed to clarify whether Rohingyas would be permitted to return to their homes or live in specially built camps. Not only that, Amnesty International has described the plans to return the Rohingya refugees as ‘alarmingly premature’. Besides, the Human Rights Watch said authorities cannot deal with the Rohingya refugees ‘as if they are an inert mass of people who will go where and when they are told’. Many other observers also said the agreement was ‘still very sketchy’ and did not address the conditions the Rohingyas would face on their return.
The important thing is that the repatriated Rohingyas would be sheltered in such a place which would be like concentration camp. Besides, as per agreement there is no surety that Rohingyas could move freely like a Myanmar citizen and they would be eligible for any job. Most alarming is that the repatriation deal does not cover over 500,000 other Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh prior to October 2016, who had been driven out of Myanmar during previous episodes of ethnic violence and military operations.
Responding to the humanitarian appeal, Bangladesh had opened its border for the most persecuted Rohingyas whereas it is now trying to send them back without even considering their security. We think, the minimum conditions for any repatriation deal needed to include the provision of basic rights such as citizenship, freedom of movement and unimpeded access to jobs -government or private sector. If Myanmar does not ensure citizenship of Rohingyas along with their security, the repatriation will be totally useless.
