Rohingyas, Myanmar del agree to joint talks on repatriation

Cox’s Bazar, July 27 (UNB) – The visiting Myanmar delegation and Rohingya representatives here on Saturday agreed to participate in a joint dialogue on repatriation issues.

Apart from representatives from Myanmar and the Rohingya community, representatives from Bangladesh and UN agencies will take part in the dialogue.

The decision was taken on Saturday following a meeting between the representatives of Rohingyas and Myanmar delegation at Kutupalong Rohingya camp in Ukhiya upazila.

However, the time, date and venue of the dialogue could not be known yet.

Myanmar Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Myint Thu led the delegation having officials from its Social Welfare Ministry and the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine in the discussion.

Some 35 Rohingyas represented their community.

A delegation of Asean’s disaster management unit AHA Centre also visited the Rohingya camp.

Rohingyas said they placed a set of demands before the Myanmar delegation members when the team urged them to return home.

But some Rohingyas who attended the meeting said they could not be sanguine on safe environment in Myanmar for their repatriation.

The visiting team landed in Cox’s Bazar at 10 am on Saturday.

Before visiting Rohingya camps, they participated in different meetings with government officials and representatives of international agencies.

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed the repatriation deal on November 23, 2017.

On January 16, 2018 Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a document on “Physical Arrangement”, which was supposed to facilitate the return of Rohingyas to their homeland.

The “Physical Arrangement” stipulates that the repatriation will be completed preferably within two years from the start.

The first batch of Rohingyas was scheduled to return on November 15 last year but it was halted amid unwillingness of Rohingyas to return for lack of a congenial environment in Rakhine.