Bangladesh has already prepared transit camps to send back Rohingyas to Myanmar. While many Rohingyas are willing to go back, others are attaching conditions.
Officials feel the repatriation process may start soon. More than 700,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh to avoid the violence unleashed by the Myanmar army in Rakhine State. At present, more than 1.1 million are Rohingyas are residing in several camps in Cox’s Bazaar.
A bilateral agreement to repatriate Rohingyas was signed on Nov 24 last year but the process to return got delayed.
As many want to go back, others are giving conditions. A Rohingya leader, Mokhtar Ahmed, says: “we will certainly go back but support from international community is essential, otherwise, we will face renewed persecution.”
A female living at the Balukhali camp says: “We will go back but Myanmar has to give us citizenship.”
Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammad Abul Kalam said, “Two transit camps have been constructed in Noyapara in Teknaf and Ghumdhum border and a list of family based Rohingyas has been given to the Myanmar government.”
The list has 22,000 names and after assessment, Mynamar has agreed to take back 5,000 in the first phase of the repatriation, he added.
Relevant to note, on 6 June last, a memorandum of understanding, MoU was signed between Myanmar and UN bodies but no Rohingyas were repatriated under that agreement.