Bangladesh rejects Myanmar's claim of repatriating Rohingya

Dhaka: Bangladesh today rejected a claim by Myanmar that the Buddhist-majority nation had repatriated the first five among some 700,00...




Dhaka: Bangladesh today rejected a claim by Myanmar that the Buddhist-majority nation had repatriated the first five among some 700,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled to the neighbouring country to escape military-led violence against the minority group.

A Myanmar government statement said on Saturday that five members of a family had returned to western Rakhine state from the border area. It said the family was staying temporarily with relatives in Maungdaw town, the administrative centre close to the border.

The statement said authorities determined whether they had lived in Myanmar and provided them with a national verification card. The card is a form of ID, but does not mean citizenship - something Rohingya have been denied in Myanmar, where they've faced persecution for decades.

The statement did not say whether any more repatriations were being planned. Bangladesh has given Myanmar a list of more than 8,000 refugees to begin the repatriations, but there have been delays due to a complicated verification process.

Bangladesh's Home Minister, Asaduzzaman Khan, today said Myanmar's claim that the family had been "repatriated" was false, noting that the family had never reached Bangladeshi territory.

Khan said Myanmar's move was "nothing but a farce." "I hope Myanmar will take all the Rohingya families back within the shortest possible time," he said.

Bangladesh's refugee, relief and repatriation commissioner, Abul Kalam, said the Rohingya family involved had never crossed the border.

"By no definition can this be called repatriation. No repatriation has taken place," he said by phone from Cox's Bazar. "Bangladesh is no way part of it." Cox's Bazar is a district in Bangladesh where camps have been set up to shelter the Rohingya.

Asif Munier, an independent refugee expert who had handled the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh for years as part of the United Nations, said Myanmar's claim was a public relations stunt.

"They are doing it again and again," he said. "Bangladesh's government and the international community must ask Myanmar for an explanation for this move. While there is a bilateral process going on and international agencies are involved, such a move by Myanmar is again very unfortunate and unexpected."

Myanmar's security forces have been accused of rape, killing, torture and the burning of the homes of Rohingya villagers after insurgents attacked about 30 police outposts on August 25.

The United Nations and the United States have described the army crackdown as "ethnic cleansing." About 700,000 Rohingya Muslims flooded into neighbouring Bangladesh to escape the violence.

Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed in December to begin repatriating them in January, but there were concerns among aid workers and Rohingya that they would be forced to return and face unsafe conditions in Myanmar.

On Friday, the UN refugee agency and Bangladesh finalised a memorandum of understanding that said the repatriation process must be "safe, voluntary and dignified ... in line with international standards."

UNHCR said it "considers that conditions in Myanmar are not yet conducive for returns to be safe, dignified, and sustainable. The responsibility for creating such conditions remains with the Myanmar authorities, and these must go beyond the preparation of physical infrastructure to facilitate logistical arrangements."
-Source: News Agency

COMMENTS


*

Name

AROUND THE GLOBE,3417,business,74,BY READERS,479,FEATURE,289,GLOBE,16,KERALA,13,Movie,327,s,1,SPECIAL STORY,394,TAMILNADU,3,TOP STORY,4138,TRAVEL,8,
ltr
item
Local Glob: Bangladesh rejects Myanmar's claim of repatriating Rohingya
Bangladesh rejects Myanmar's claim of repatriating Rohingya
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1QF81743HiI/WtRPFfQjYuI/AAAAAAAAoss/yuq9mql0LhUMfMdTRZ5Qp5umCOUSspoVwCLcBGAs/s320/rohingya.png
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1QF81743HiI/WtRPFfQjYuI/AAAAAAAAoss/yuq9mql0LhUMfMdTRZ5Qp5umCOUSspoVwCLcBGAs/s72-c/rohingya.png
Local Glob
https://www.localglob.com/2018/04/bangladesh-rejects-myanmars-claim-of.html
https://www.localglob.com/
http://www.localglob.com/
http://www.localglob.com/2018/04/bangladesh-rejects-myanmars-claim-of.html
true
8255692317570297677
UTF-8
Loaded All Posts Not found any posts VIEW ALL Readmore Reply Cancel reply Delete By Home PAGES POSTS View All RECOMMENDED FOR YOU LABEL ARCHIVE SEARCH ALL POSTS Not found any post match with your request Back Home Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat January February March April May June July August September October November December Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec just now 1 minute ago $$1$$ minutes ago 1 hour ago $$1$$ hours ago Yesterday $$1$$ days ago $$1$$ weeks ago more than 5 weeks ago Followers Follow THIS CONTENT IS PREMIUM Please share to unlock Copy All Code Select All Code All codes were copied to your clipboard Can not copy the codes / texts, please press [CTRL]+[C] (or CMD+C with Mac) to copy