Chittagong,
Bangladesh: Burma has approved in principle to restart a long-delayed voluntary
repatriation program for Rohingya Muslim refugees from Burma, living in the
country, said Bangladesh`s foreign Secretary.
Bangladesh
Foreign Secretary Mohammad Shahidul Haque said that Burma and Bangladesh
reached an agreement to resume the program during annual foreign office
consultations in Nay Pyi Taw from June 12-17.
When
asked a Rohingya refugee teacher, “We are willing to go back to Arakan State,
Burma, if we get our appropriate rights like other ethnic groups.”
The
refugee teacher also said, “We have been living in Bangladesh refugee camp
since 1991-92, but we don’t see our future. We live in a big cage like jail, so
we want durable solution urgently.”
“We
have encouraged the Burma government to restart the process. They have agreed
and are looking for an appropriate time to restart the
process,” Mr Haque told The Myanmar Times on June 15.
“We
would like to see the Burma’s nationals who are in Bangladesh return under safe
conditions, voluntarily, back to their home. They can start a healthy and
productive life in their own country,” Mr Haque said.
“A
time frame for the implementation of the process has not yet been agreed upon
and was contingent on many factors.”
Dhaka
has been pushing for a resumption of the program since Burma refused to extend
the original agreement past 2005.
But,
Burma refuses to recognize the Rohingya as an ethnic group, calling them
instead Bengalis and describing them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh who
arrived during the British occupation.
However,
Bangladesh does not recognize the term either – and objected to its use during
the interview – insisting instead that they be called “undocumented Myanmar
nationals”.
Large
numbers of Rohingya entered Bangladesh in 1978 and again in 1991-92, the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says. More fled to Bangladesh
during clashes in Rakhine State during October and June of last year, although
many were turned back.
But
the process stopped completely in July 2005 when the Burma’s government refused
to extend the deadline for the original agreement and continued to block some
repatriation efforts. Plans to restart it in 2009 but stalled when about 9000
refugees cleared for repatriation refused to return to Burma.
Bangladesh
estimates there are about 30,000 documented refugees living in two camps in
Cox’s Bazar. Minister for Foreign Affairs Dipu Moni told a session of
parliament in June, more than 500,000 Burma’s refugees have entered the country
illegally.
The
rise in anti-Muslim sentiment in Burma and outbreaks of violence towards the
religious minority has drawn international condemnation, but Mr Haque said that
he was unaware of anti-Muslim feeling in Burma.
According
to refugees, they are very afraid that Bangladesh will forcibly repatriate the
Rohingya refugees like before. “If the situation is stable in Arakan State, we
will go back, no need to agree for repatriation. We have been denied the right
of citizenship by the Burmese government. ”
The
refugees also said, “We are surprise as thousands of Rohingyas have been
displaced and were many killed, and the situation is going bad to worst day by
day, at this situation, why the Bangladesh government proposes to Burmese
government about the repatriation of Rohingya refugees?
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