Bangladesh has identified anti-Muslim and Rohingya campaign, negative attitude of Rakhine politicians and aggressive action of local civilian vigilantes as the stumbling blocks in repatriating Rohingyas.
The issues were put forward on Thursday to Myanmar delegation, who came to Dhaka for the second joint working group on Rohingya repatriation.
The meeting was held at state-guest house Padma where Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque led the Bangladesh side while Myanmar side was led by its permanent secretary Mying Thu.
“We emphasised that Rohingyas are human being and taking the decision to go back to Rakhine would be very big one for them to make,” said an official who attended the meeting.
For that creation of conducive environment in Rakhine is needed so that they can take the ‘go back’ decision without any fear, he said.
Bangladesh is home to over one million Rohingyas who lost their homes and had to flee from Rakhine due to discriminatory attitude and action of Myanmar government and military forces.
Anti Muslim campaign
He said, “In the meeting, we pointed out that massive anti Muslim and anti-Rohingya campaign is on going in Rakhine and it is a deterrent factor for Rohingyas to take decision.”
Outright reject Rohingyas, they are threat to Buddism, they came from outside and other derogatory messages are the main focus of those campaign and those need to be stopped to bring confidence among the displaced people.
Rakhine politicians
Rakhine politicians oppose Rohingyas repatriation and Bangladesh in the meeting pointed out that it needs to be addressed.
The official said, even in the local parliament a bill on Muslim-free Moundu was introduced and was discussed.
Some local politicians are of the demand that Muslims cannot live in certain areas and all these things have a negative impact on the minds of Rohingyas.
Civilian vigilante
The civilian vigilante assisted Myanmar forces to drive out Rohingyas from their homes and Bangladesh side requested to have a massive campaign to change their attitude.
The official said, “It is very difficult to live in a place where your neighbor is against you.”
Local police and other law enforcing agencies always show discriminatory attitude towards Rohingyas and it needs to be changed.
Settlement plan
Bangladesh side wanted to know the settlement plan of Myanmar and when they would implement it.
The main problem is Rohingyas don’t want to stay in transit camp for long and proper accommodation must be prepared before the go back, he said.
He said Myanmar is preparing new villages in Rakhine but those are not even near to any old villages which might create confusion among the Rohingyas.
Meanwhile, a press release issued by the foreign ministry said the government side wanted to know more about national verification card and asked Myanmar to provide information in this regard.
Bangladesh wants to disseminate information to the Rohingyas so that they get confidence, the press release added.