Arakan News Agency
The Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh on Tuesday questioned the chances of their return to Myanmar despite her government’s assertion that it would accept the return of those found to have fled to Bangladesh.
More than half a million Rohingya fled a military campaign launched in Myanmar’s Arakan province in late August and were condemned by the United Nations as a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
The Government stated that anyone found to be a refugee would be allowed to return under measures arranged with Bangladesh in 1993.
On Monday, the two countries agreed to work on a refugee return plan and a spokesman for the Myanmar government confirmed that it would implement the agreement provided refugees had papers proving their status.
However, many refugees in camps in Bangladesh ridiculed the plan.
“Everything was burned up,” said a man who said his name was Abdullah. “It is unlikely that people will have documents proving their eligibility to stay in Myanmar.
The heart of the problem is that the Buddhist majority in Myanmar refuses to grant citizenship to the Muslim minority.
An official at the Foreign Ministry in Bangladesh acknowledged that the operation was difficult.
Bangladesh hosted some 400,000 Rohingya refugees before the latest wave of displacement, but Myanmar said it would accept only those who arrived in Bangladesh after October when a military offensive in response to rebel attacks forced 87,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.
But even if the refugees have documents, many fear to return without full citizenship, fearing that they will continue to be persecuted under the restrictions they have lived in for years.
“If we go there we’ll have to go back,” said Amina Kato, 60, laughing. If they give us our rights, we will go. But people did it before and had to go back. “
