Myanmar army will verify Rohingyas

Myanmar government Monday agreed to take back their nationals who had fled to Bangladesh from Rakhine State, on the basis of the principles agreed upon between Bangladesh and Myanmar in 1993.
Both the side agreed that Myanmar would start the process of taking back their citizens from Kutu Palang and Nayabazar of Cox's Bazar district following a verification led by the Myanmar army. This means Bangladesh government may not have any role in the verification process, according to the diplomatic sources.
A Joint Working Committee (JWC) would be formed comprising members from the Foreign Ministry, Home Ministry, officials of Prime Minister's Office, BGB and other ministries concerned within next two months to fix up the "Terms or Reference (ToR)" for the formation of the JWC, Foreign Ministry sources said.
"Next week Home Minister Assduzzaman Khan Kamal will visit Myanmar to discuss the verification issues and later the JWC would be formed for a peaceful solution of this process," an official said.
Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi's Special Envoy and Bangladesh's Foreign Minister on Monday had taken up all these decision at a meeting at National Guest House Padma in the capital.
"If all these things are decided on the basis of the agreement signed by the two parties in 1993 then it could be said that the problem is going deepen, we are going to take a huge burden for an unlimited period of time," a senior official of the Foreign Ministry said preferring anonymity.
The Myanmar delegation was led by Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor of Myanmar Kyaw Tint Swe. The Bangladeshi delegation included Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan.
Suu Kyi sent her minister to Dhaka mounting international pressure on Myanmar over the Rohingya exodus in the wake of Myanmar military repression termed by UN ethnic cleansing. Bangladesh Monday also sent to Suu Kyi a draft of proposals, where it demanded to implement the Kofi Annan Commission Report and start the process to taking back Rohingays as soon as possible.
 During the meeting Myanmar denied the allegation of killing Rohingya people rather it said  that its forces are battling Rohingya "terrorists" who triggered the latest wave of violence with coordinated attacks on the security forces on Aug 25.
It says more than 500 people have been killed since, most of them insurgents, whom it has accused of attacking civilians and setting most of the fires that have reduced to ashes over half of the more than 400 Rohingya villages in northern Rakhine.
Bangladesh proposed signing a bilateral agreement for the repatriation process and handed over a draft to the Myanmar delegation.
"We are waiting for the response from Myanmar government," the official said.
Over half a million Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh since the start of a military crackdown in the Myanmar border state of Rakhine. The refugees have claimed the Myanmar security forces are shooting at civilians, setting fire to their homes and raping Rohingya women.
The exodus of 507,000 Rohingyas since late August has been described as the world's fastest-developing refugee crisis by the United Nations, which says Buddhist-majority Myanmar is engaging in the ethnic cleansing of its Rohingya Muslim minority.
 "The crisis started in 60s, we faced similar situation in 80, 90s and 2016 and 2017, however. Myanmar government did not look after the issue, however, the world leaders are now with us but if we do not engage UN in this process, then we might not be successful. That's what we witnessed last time," former Ambassador Muhammad Zamir said.