Bangladesh's plans to tackle the Rohingya crisis have been stalled until the new year with repatriation and relocation programmes only likely to be revisited following year-end general elections, a top Bangladeshi official said on Sunday.
Abul Kalam, Bangladesh's refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, told Reuters "a new course of action" needed to be adopted on repatriation that took into account Rohingyas’ key demands.
More than 720,000 Rohingyas fled a sweeping army crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine state in 2017, according to UN agencies. The crackdown was launched in response to insurgent Rohingya attacks on security forces.
Rohingyas say soldiers and Buddhist civilians killed families, burned many villages and carried out gang rapes. UN-mandated investigators have accused Myanmar's army of "genocidal intent" and ethnic cleansing. Myanmar has denied almost all the accusations, saying its forces engaged in a counter-insurgency operation against "terrorists".
In late October, Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed to begin to repatriate hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas who fled, but the plan has been opposed by the Rohingyas in Bangladesh and the UN refugee agency and aid groups, who fear for the safety of Rohingyas in Myanmar.
The repatriation of the first batch of 2,200 Rohingyas was to begin officially on Nov 15, but it stalled amid protests at the camps. None of those on the list agreed to return if their demands for justice, citizenship and the ability to go back to their original villages and lands were not met.
"I don't think anyone's agreeing to go back without these," said Kalam, who last week called on the international community to pressure Myanmar to accept certain "logical and acceptable" demands in order for any repatriation to take place.
Myanmar does not consider the Rohingyas a native ethnic group and calls them "Bengalis", suggesting they belong in Bangladesh. It has agreed to take the Rohingyas back and said they would need to accept the National Verification Card, which it says would allow Rohingyas to apply for citizenship. The Rohingyas reject the card, saying it brands them foreigners.
Kalam said he believed Myanmar needed to propose a "clearer path" to citizenship for the Rohingyas if any returns were to take place, adding he would raise the matter at the next bilateral meeting on repatriation, likely to take place next month.
Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay was not reachable on Sunday for comment.
With Bangladesh now set to go to the polls on Dec 30, any decision either to repatriate, or relocate Rohingyas from the crowded camps to Bangladesh's Bhasan Char island will not proceed until 2019, Kalam said.
"Elections are coming up now, so the government will only finalise a future course of action after the elections," said Kalam, adding that Bangladesh remained ready to repatriate refugees if any volunteered to return.
Bangladesh has vowed not to force anyone to return.
Kalam said construction work on alternative housing on Bhasan Char was "nearly complete." He said he was hopeful some Rohingyas would agree to move, given the island's "livelihood opportunities" such as fishing and farming. Aid agencies express caution as the island is prone to flooding.