BD wants UNHCR to help repatriate Rohingyas

Bangladesh is trying to narrowing the gap in the implementation process of Rohingya repatriation, involving UNHCR, the UN Agency working with the refugees across the globe.
It is also working on the Terms of Reference (ToR) of proposed "Joint Working Group (JWC)" which is going to be formed by this month following a foreign secretary level meeting in Dhaka on December 19, Foreign Ministry sources said.
"We are set to incorporate UNHCR in our part (Bangladesh's) from the first day of operation of the JWC. Myanmar will decide what they will want to do," a senior official of the Foreign Ministry told the Daily Observer. Myanmar did not agree to incorporate UNHCR during the signing of the 'Arrangement' on return of Rohingyas' in Myanmar last month.
The official said a 11to 13 member (from each country) committee comprising the members of Prime Minister Office, Foreign Ministry, Home Ministry, Ministry of Disaster Management, BGB, Law and Intelligence Agency is going to be formed soon to implement the repatriation.
A team of Myanmar will be here on December 19 to take forward the process of forming a joint working group to start repatriation of Rohingyas living in Bangladesh.
Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque will hold a meeting with his Myanmar counterpart on Tuesday to finalize things on joint working group.
"As per UN resolution, we need to ensure voluntary repatriation of the Rohingya people, whereas the root causes of Rohingya problem     and other related questions would have to be addressed by Myanmar. So, we need to strengthen our effort to keep continue the international pressure upon Myanmar as this is the only way to achieve the goal," the official added.
In this regard, he stressed on international community's continued support, vigilance and monitoring on the situation in the Rakhine state.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh has conveyed to the United Nations that a joint working group on Rohingya repatriation will soon be formed under the terms and conditions of the bilateral arrangement between Bangladesh and Myanmar which was signed on November 23.
"We are behind the schedule as we are still working on the draft and ToR," Foreign Ministry's source said.
The joint working group was supposed to be in place within three weeks of signing the 'Arrangement' on return of Rohingyas. Bangladesh continues to receive fresh arrivals of the Rohingya, with an average of 100-400 people on a daily basis.