Arakan News Agency
The European Union on Tuesday expressed doubts over the possibility of implementing the agreement reached by Myanmar and Bangladesh on the repatriation of refugees from the Rohingya minority who fled to Bangladesh following a series of local army operations in their areas.
“The repatriation agreement between Myanmar and Bangladesh was an important first step,” said David Daly, a South Asia department official at the European External Action Commission.
But he said implementation of the agreement should have been carefully monitored by the EU and the international community, adding that the role of the UN was essential.
Dali expressed the European Union’s regret that Myanmar had not conducted “serious” investigations into the events in Rohingya and accused it of failing to cooperate with the human rights fact-finding mission and with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Yanghee Lee.
The European Union would continue to apply pressure, including through the United Nations, as well as constructive engagement with Myanmar.
Myanmar signed an agreement with Bangladesh last November to repatriate hundreds of thousands of Rwandan Muslim minority refugees to Myanmar in an important step to tackle one of the worst current humanitarian and human rights crises.
