{"id":121304,"date":"2018-11-05T12:00:37","date_gmt":"2018-11-05T12:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=121304"},"modified":"2018-11-12T12:11:34","modified_gmt":"2018-11-12T12:11:34","slug":"rohingyas-to-be-repatriated-despite-un-genocide-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/11\/rohingyas-to-be-repatriated-despite-un-genocide-warning\/","title":{"rendered":"Rohingyas to Be Repatriated Despite UN Genocide Warning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bangladesh and Myanmar to start returning refugees days after warning of continuing genocide against Muslims.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Rohingya children at a refugee camp in Ukhia, Cox\u2019s Bazar, Bangladesh.
Photograph: Rehman Asad\/Barcroft Images<\/p><\/div>\n

30 Oct 2018 – <\/em>Myanmar and Bangladesh have agreed to start the repatriation of Rohingya refugees next month, less than a week after UN investigators warned<\/a> that a genocide against the Muslim minority was continuing.<\/p>\n

More than 720,000 of Myanmar\u2019s stateless Rohingya people fled a military crackdown in August last year, taking shelter in crowded camps in Bangladesh<\/a> and bringing with them harrowing tales of rape, murder and arson.<\/p>\n

At a meeting of the Bangladeshi foreign secretary, Shahidul Haque, and his Burmese counterpart, Myint Thu, on Tuesday, the two countries drew up a \u201cvery concrete plan\u201d to start repatriations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have shown our political will, flexibility and accommodation in order to commence the repatriation at the earliest possible date,\u201d Myint Thu told reporters. Authorities in Buddhist-majority Myanmar say more than 100 displaced Rohingyas have returned in recent months, but Bangladesh<\/a> says the official process has not begun.<\/p>\n

Myint Thu\u2019s comments were echoed by Haque, who said: \u201cWe are looking forward to starting the repatriation by mid-November.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rohingya<\/a> families who fled Myanmar have been living in cramped, makeshift refugee camps in Bangladesh\u2019s Cox\u2019s Bazar district. Bangladesh initially proved very welcoming to those fleeing the violence, but the burden of looking after the refugees has become politically contentious in the impoverished country.<\/p>\n

This is not the first time a date has been set for repatriation. A previous attempt, in November 2017, hit insurmountable obstacles. A year on, Rohingya living in the camps have the same fundamental questions about their safety if they return.<\/p>\n

Somsu Alom fled his village in northern Maungdaw in September last year after soldiers and Rakhine Buddhists set it alight, and now lives at Thaingkhali refugee camp in Cox\u2019s Bazar with his wife and six children. He said his family was desperate to go home but \u201cthe situation in Rakhine is still unsafe\u201d for Rohingyas.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn smaller groups, Rohingyas are still fleeing to Bangladesh. We cannot understand how they have announced that repatriation of the Rohingya refugees will begin in November. It\u2019s very disappointing for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

He described how those who had fled from Rahkine in recent weeks had recounted ongoing violence and a hostile environment for the Rohingya community still there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Rohingya still are not allowed to move around in Rakhine freely. Occasionally, Rohingya are still being targeted in violence and the hardship and threats are still forcing the remaining Rohingya to flee. We cannot return home in the current situation,\u201d Alom said.<\/p>\n

There are also questions about the logistics of repatriation. Many Rohingya homes and villages were razed in the crackdown, so it is likely they would be relocated to new residences built by the government in Rahkine. It is unclear, however, whether they would have free movement or whether the homes would simply be \u201copen air prisons\u201d, as some human rights groups have suggested.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A Rohingya refugee walks through Kutupalong camp in Cox\u2019s Bazar, Bangladesh.
Photograph: Mohammad Ponir Hossain\/Reuters<\/p><\/div>\n

Bangladesh reportedly handed Myanmar<\/a> a list of 8,000 Rohingya refugees whom it had processed and were ready for repatriation earlier this year. Abul Faisal, 42, who fled his home in Maungdaw town in September last year, said there was confusion about who had even been cleared for return.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe authorities in Bangladesh collected names and other details of the Rohingya refugees living in Cox\u2019s Bazar, but we were never told why,\u201d he said. \u201cMost importantly, I have not heard of any Rohingya refugee who was asked if he or she wanted to return home to Myanmar. So we do not know how the local authorities got those names of Rohingya for repatriation.\u201d<\/p>\n

He emphasised that Rohingya demands for safety and citizenship had not been met by Myanmar authorities and described Rahkine as dangerous for the Muslim community. \u201cThe saddest fact is that neither Myanmar nor Bangladesh involved the Rohingya community in the negotiations for the repatriation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marzuki Darusman, chair of the UN fact-finding mission on Myanmar<\/a>, said last week that thousands of Rohingyas were still fleeing to Bangladesh had faced discrimination, and those who remain\u201ccontinue to suffer the most severe\u201d restrictions and repression.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an ongoing genocide that is taking place at the moment,\u201d Darusman said.<\/p>\n

Myanmar signed a memorandum of understanding with the UN in June, which stipulated that certain conditions need to be met for repatriations to take place, including guaranteed security and a pathway to citizenship.<\/p>\n

The Rohingya community has lived in Myanmar for generations, but a 1982 law stripped it membersof their citizenship and made most of them stateless. No clear process for reinstating their citizenship has been demonstrated.<\/p>\n

There is also still widespread discrimination against the Rohingya by Buddhist citizens in Myanmar, and they are widely referred to as \u201cBengalis\u201d by the government, inferring they are interlopers. A recent Guardian visit<\/a> to Rahkine state showed that Buddhist community leaders and citizens still refer to the Rohingya as terrorists and made it clear that \u201cno one wants them to come back\u201d.<\/p>\n

Myint Thu insisted the Myanmar government was working to eliminate such discrimination ahead of repatriation. \u201cWe have trained the police, different law and enforcement agencies in workshops, educating them against discrimination. Also, we have been raising awareness against such discriminations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Andrej Mahecic, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency, recently said the organisation did not believe \u201cthat conditions are currently in place in Myanmar for voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees\u201d.<\/p>\n

__________________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hannah Ellis-Petersen is the <\/em>Guardian’s<\/em> Southeast Asia correspondent<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaikh Azizur Rahman – <\/strong>Freelance journalist based in India<\/em><\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Jacob Goldberg<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 theguardian.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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