Myanmar to take back only 600 of 8,000 Rohingyas

Myanmar government has taken a move to take back only 600 Rohingya refugees (most of them are Hindus) of the 8,032 who have said they will voluntarily return from Bangladesh. Bangladesh handed over a list of 1,673 Rohingya families (8,032 individuals) to Myanmar to start the first phase of repatriation of the displaced people to their homeland in Rakhine state one year back.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed to the repatriation of the first batch of 2251 refugees on November 15, but the refugees refused to return because of concerns over security and citizenship rights. However, Myanmar's foreign ministry handed over the list of the Rohingya refugees to Bangladeshi envoy in Myanmar Manjurul Karim Khan Chowdhury on January 8 and asked him to expedite the returning process, according to the Myanmar Times.

U Myint Thu, Myanmar's permanent secretary for foreign affairs, told the Myanmar Times that out the list of thousands of Rohingyas submitted by the Bangladesh government, they had deemed only 600 eligible for repatriation.
following the recent insurgency in Rakhine State on January 4, Myanmar's Foreign Ministry held a meeting with Bangladesh's envoy on January 8 on Rohingya repatriation issue, Myanmar Times said.

Arakanese lawmaker U Aung Thaung Shwe representing Rakhine State's Buthidaung in the Lower House suggested that Arakanese people are likely
to leave their native towns if the government accepts back Bengalis-a term used by the majority of Myanmar people to refer to the Rohingya as interlopers from Bangladesh-for fear that insurgents might also infiltrate into the state along with refugees.

"Arakanese people can live together with Hindus who live peacefully. But what if insurgents come back? If they come back here, we can't live here. We dare not. We can only leave," U Aung Thaung Shwe recently told The Irrawaddy, another newspaper published from Myanmar.

The Myanmar government is taking steps to repatriate more than 400 Hindus who fled to Bangladesh since August 25 after insurgent attacks on border police prompted counter-insurgency military operations in northern Rakhine State. The Myanmar government sent application forms in response to the request of Hindu refugees, said Dr Win Myat Aye, who is also the vice-chair of UEHRD, adding that the government would only send and accept application forms for those who were willing to come back to Myanmar of their own accord.

Earlier, the Myanmar government has sent application forms for Hindu people to fill out in order to come back to Myanmar. "We'll send more application forms depending on the number of houses available in the area," said Dr. Win Myat Aye, as many houses were burned down or damaged in the conflict.

On November 22, 2017 the Myanmar and Bangladeshi governments signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the repatriation of refugees. The two countries agreed to form a joint committee within three weeks and start the repatriation process within two months.

Anyone coming back will have to undergo the national verification process according to the 1982 Citizenship Law, and full citizenship and associate citizenship along with fundamental rights and freedom of movement will be granted respectively to those who are eligible, Myanmar repeatedly said.
The UN estimates that more than 800,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since Aug. 25, but the Myanmar government has denied those figures.

Myanmar blamed Bangladesh for the slow process, accusing its neighbour of submitting missing or "incomplete" information for the majority of the refugees, and accused three on the list of being terrorists.

"We repeatedly asked the myanmar government and the international community to take back Rohingyas as it creates a serious havoc on our social and economic life but it is ignored, the international community willing to give some financial support for the Rohingya refugees but they wants to put the Myanmar's international issues on Bangladesh's solder," a senior official of the foreign Ministry said.

About 10,0000 Muslim Rohingya refugees currently living in camps in Bangladesh after fleeing a violent and targeted campaign by the Burmese military in Rakhine state which began in late 80s.