Bangladesh and Myanmar have signed in a ‘Physical Arrangement Agreement’ with the condition of Rohingya repatriation within two years. This agreement was signed on Tuesday morning after a ‘Joint Working Group’ meeting at Foreign Secretary in Myanmar's capital, Naypyidaw.
Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque and Myanmar foreign secretary Myint Thu signed the agreement on behalf of their respective countries. Earlier, on Monday, the first meeting of the ‘Joint Working Group’ discussed on the ‘Physical Arrangement’.
Bangladesh Ambassador to Myanmar Mohammad Sufiur Rahman said, “We have signed a very positive agreement which is very affirmative. We made a proposal that the repatriation will be completed within two years ‘preferably’ from the day repatriation starts. There has been a lot of discussion on this proposal and Myanmar has agreed to it.”
“We proposed to return 15 thousand Rohingyas to Myanmar every week. But they (Myanmar) did not agree to the proposal. They themselves have made arrangements for the Rohingyas. But Myanmar agreed to return 300 Rohingyas per day which sums 1500 Rohingyas every week in the initial state. The number can be amplified by reviewing the agreement in the next three months”, he added.
Mohammad Sufiur Rahman also said, “Under this agreement, a family will be considered as a unit which means a form will contain the information of an entire family and this will make the repatriation easier.”
“In this regard, Bangladesh will take the assistance of UNHCR and Myanmar will contact us in their suitable time,” he added.
He said, “Myanmar will take initiative to ensure that Rohingyas do not enter Bangladesh again and as a part of the initiative, they will take back 7,000 Rohingyas in the Myanmar border areas that are eager to enter Bangladesh. Myanmar will return Rohingyas to a temporary camp. They (repatriated Rohingyas) will be relocated to a temporary camp and this will never turn in an ‘Internally Displaced Camp’; that is assured by the Myanmar government.
Under the ‘Physical Arrangement Agreement’, Bangladesh will arrange five transit camps and Myanmar will set up two reception camps for Rohingya repatriation. Myanmar will shelter the returnees in a temporary accommodation at the Hla Pho Khung and rebuild returnees’ houses to move in there.
The agreement also read that children who have orphaned (both lost their mother & father) in violence and children born in Bangladesh will also be repatriated under this agreement. Both countries agreed to form two Technical Working Group, one on verification and the other on repatriation.