Bangladesh will ask Myanmar to take necessary confidence-building measure for Rohingya repatriation when foreign secretaries of both the countries will meet on Oct 30.
Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque will have a meeting with Myanmar Permanent Secretary Myint Thu on the day and it is expected that the next day both of them will talk with Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazaar, where about 1.1 million of them are residing.
“We want Rohingyas to go back voluntarily and for that they need confidence and only Myanmar can give that,” said a senior government official.
It is the duty of Myanmar government to convince them to go back to Rakhine, where the Rohingyas had faced inhuman brutality, he said.
We have arranged a meeting between Rohingya community and the visiting delegation so that Myanmar can explain the steps they have taken for the repatriation, he added.
“Rohingyas have many concerns and it can only be addressed when they talk with the Myanmar authorities,” he said.
The concerns will not be removed in one meeting and it is necessary to have similar types of interaction between Myanmar and Rohingyas more frequently, he added.
From the Bangladesh side, we will hammer on safety and security of the distressed people, and livelihood with dignity, said another official.
Will a repatriation date be fixed in the secretary-level meeting, he said “It will depend on ground reality. Repatriation must be voluntary and for that Myanmar first needs to create a conducive environment to build confidence among the Rohingyas.”
On Aug 25 last year, Myanmar military swooped on unarmed Rohingya civilians and according to an estimation killed 25,000 of them.
Since then over 0.7 million Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh to save their lives.
About 0.4 million Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh before the Aug 25 Myanmar military operation began.