DHAKA: The repatriation of Rohingya Muslim refugees back to Myanmar, which was scheduled to begin this week has been postponed, said an official of Bangladesh. Abul Kalam, commissioner of the Refugees, Relief and Repatriation Commission in the coastal area of Cox's Bazar, gave no details beyond saying that officials "are working on this." An agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar said their return home was to begin this week. However, many Rohingya have expressed worries with the agreement, saying they do not feel safe returning home and would prefer to stay in Bangladesh refugee camps.
Over a million refugees
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh army which began a biometric registering of the refugees last year, said that more than one million refugees are living in camps set up in Bangladesh, higher than previous estimates. "So far we've registered 1,004,742 Rohingya. They are given biometric registration cards," said Saidur Rahman, a brigadier general with the Bangladesh army who heads the Rohingya registration project. Several thousand more have yet to be registered, he said. The figures are higher than those provided by the UN, which estimates that there are 9,62,000 Rohingya living in southeast Bangladesh, near the Myanmar border. Some of the refugees have been living in Bangladesh for many years, but the repatriation agreement only covers those who have arrived since October 2016.
As per the agreement, the repatration was to be completed within a two years. Rights groups have expressed concerns about the pace of the process, particularly as Rohingya are still fleeing Rakhine. "With memories of rape, killing and torture still fresh in the minds of Rohingya refugees, plans for their return to Myanmar are alarmingly premature," James Gomez, Amnesty International's regional director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said. "The obfuscation and denials of the Myanmar authorities give no reason to hope that the rights of returning Rohingya would be protected, or that the reasons for their original flight no longer exist."
