Talks with Myanmar on forming JWG begin today

Bangladesh and Myanmar will today (Wednesday) kick off the "Agreement Negotiation" meeting at Naypyidaw, the capital of Myanmar, aimed at forming a "Joint Working Group" (JWG) to repatriate the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals from Bangladesh.
Bangladesh's Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Myanmar's  State Counsellor and Foreign Affairs Minister Aung San Suu Kyi  will lead the Bangladesh and Myanmar teams in two-days negotiation meeting, Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque said on Tuesday.
"The meeting will focus on four specific issues (a) citizenship status of Rohingyas, (b) formation of "Joint Working Group" (JWG), (c) whether the repatriation process will follow the '92 memorandum of understanding (MoU) and (d) discussion on Kofi Annan Commission Repot to use it in repatriation process,"  a senior official of the Foreign Ministry told the Daily Observer on Tuesday.
Myanmar's de facto

leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Tuesday that Myanmar would follow the framework of an agreement reached in the 1990s (1992)  to cover the earlier repatriation of Rohingya, who had fled to Bangladesh to escape previous bouts of ethnic violence.
In the concluding speech of ASEM meeting, she hopes talks with Bangladesh this week will result in a memorandum of understanding on the "safe and voluntary return" of Rohingya Muslims who fled to Bangladesh in the past three months.
Earlier, Bangladesh has agreed to delete the word "Rohingya" from the proposed draft agreement which is going to be signed with the Myanmar government between November 23 and 24.
Earlier, talks between the two countries reached a broad agreement to work out a repatriation deal, but a senior Myanmar official later accused Bangladesh of dragging its feet in order to secure funding from aid agencies for hosting the refugees.
"We hope that this would result in an MOU signed quickly, which would enable us to start the safe and voluntarily return of Rohingyas," hopes Bangladesh Foreign Ministry.
During the bilateral meeting, which is going to be held (today), Bangladesh wants to start official dialogue to resolve the pending issues including Border Liaison Office (BLO), allow vessels use its inland ports including Chittagong, Mongla, Narayanganj and Teknaf ports in Bangladesh and Yangon, Pathein, Sittwe and Maungtaw ports in Myanmar for each other's use, ink a memorandum of understanding to hold regular dialogues on security matters, establish communication network under BCIM (Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar) to link with East-West and North-East corridors of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the official said.
In April 1992 the then Bangladesh Foreign Minister Mostafizur Ranman stated that the repatriation of refugees would be completed in six months. It is out of that sense of urgency that Bangladesh signed a Joint Statement with the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORQ of Myanmar on April 28, 1992).
The foreign ministry said around 6, 30,000 Myanmar citizens have taken shelter in Bangladesh since August 29 when the Rakhine state turned volatile following an attack on police outposts.
Before 2016, around 300,000 Myanmar nationals have been in Bangladesh.
Amid international outcry, Director General Kyaw Zaya of Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs repeatedly said that they would take back their citizens from Bangladesh.
Unfortunately, the Myanmar authorities have been never started the process to take back those verified even before 2006.
"We almost finalized the draft. However, we need to begin the dialogue first, we did not see any problem with the changes as all issues will be fixed in the meeting," diplomatic sources told the Daily Observer.
According to the sources, the Agreement will discuss only about those Rohingyas who have taken shelter in Bangladesh in the years 2016 and 2017. However, Bangladesh is set to sign the agreement this month and attempt to form the JWG accordingly.
The 1992 MoU was shelved in January 2012 after UNHCR pulled out due to concerns about forced repatriation.
In 1978, 1991, 1996, 2016 and 2017 Bangladesh gave shelter to Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. But Myanmar will now only discuss about the Rohingya refugees who entered in 2016 and 2017. What will be the fate of about 4 lakh Rohingyas, those were displaced in 1978, 1991 and 1996, asked the official.
According to the media report Suu Kyi told a crowded press conference that "What we're trying to do is to sign a MoU that will enable us to start the repatriation of all those refugees who have gone over the border."
"Nothing can be done overnight. But, we believe we'll be able to make a steady progress," said the Myanmar's de facto leader.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of Asian and European countries, in general, have agreed in many areas on Rohingya issue and asked for immediate cessation of hostilities, halting of outflow and early return of externally displaced Rohingyas from Bangladesh.
They also asked for implementation of recommendations of the Kofi Annan Commission for durable solutions.