Arakan News Agency
Twenty-one organizations representing the Rohingya Muslims on Thursday expressed “concern” about the plan to repatriate Rohingya refugees fleeing Bangladesh from Myanmar’s Arakan province, laying conditions for a safe return of these refugees.According to a joint statement issued by the 21 organizations active around the world, the position of the Myanmar government and its army on Rohingya “has not changed” and that they still see Rohingya as Bengali coming from Bangladesh.
The Rohingyas still flock to Bangladesh because of the violence, of being targeted in Arakan province, the statement said, pointing out that the Rohingya Muslims do not want to return to Myanmar without creating an atmosphere of tolerance for the province.
According to the organizations themselves, the lives and property of Rohingya refugees should be guaranteed before their return to Myanmar.
It called for “the participation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in all stages of the repatriation of refugees, allowing them to carry identification recognized by the United Nations, and voluntary repatriation.”
It also called for the return of refugees under the auspices of an international peace force, for their housing and property, for Myanmar to recognize and grant citizenship to the Rohingya and to guarantee all their rights and freedoms.
The statement also highlighted the possibility of the United Nations establishing safe zones, army-free areas in northern Arakan province, as part of a temporary measure to protect the Rohingya lives.
The statement also called for a change in the Myanmar Nationality Act of 1982 and the need to prohibit all forms of racism, provocation, hate speech and the phenomenon of Islamophobia.
In December, Bangladeshi Senior minister Obaidul Quader said at least 100,000 Rohingya refugees would be repatriated to Myanmar in January.
Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, last Sunday witnessed the first joint working group meeting to repatriate Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh to Myanmar, according to a plan agreed by the two sides last November, according to Bengali media.
The joint working groups were composed of government officials in each of Bangladesh and Myanmar to discuss how to activate the plan for the return of Myanmar refugees in Bangladesh.
According to the latest UN data, the number of Rohingya Muslims who have fled to Arakan to Bangladesh since August 25 has reached 665,000.
