Repatriation process delayed

03 July 2018
Repatriation process delayed
An aerial view of check point and entrance gate for the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, locally called Bangali, in Maungdaw township, Rakhine State, western Myanmar, 14 January 2018. Photo: Nyunt Win/EPA

The repatriation programme agreed to by the Myanmar and Bangladesh governments has not yet materialized.

The repatriation programme was delayed by errors found in data transferred between two countries.

The Myanmar government claimed that the data and facts sent by Bangladesh were not accurate and complete.

The agreement for the repatriation programme was reached between the two countries in January but no refugees returned to Myanmar under this programme. In the meantime, some refugees migrated to Malaysia by boat from Bangladesh.

The Myanmar government said in press release that 104 boat people were found on the seashore in Rathedaung Township in mid-June this year and 92 of them were found to be residents of Myanmar and were later sent to their villages.

These people fled to Bangladesh after conflict erupted in their areas and then they tried to migrate to Malaysia by boats.

Soe Aung said, “We learned that they lived in Buthidaung and Maungdaw before fleeing to Bangladesh refugee camps and they told us that they would like to stay in their original residences but their relatives, parents and families are still left in the refugee camps in the country on the other side. They told us that they would like to live in the villages where their relatives live so we are compiling a list of these people.”

Myanmar government checked the personal details of the boat people at Ngakhura reception station to ascertain if they really lived in Myanmar before and their statements were counterchecked with statements given by their village administrators concerned.

Mizzima could interview an 18-year-old girl from the group at Ngakhura reception station and she told us that she tried to go to Malaysia after her love called her to come to Malaysia and she said that she stayed at Shawmalarphu refugee camp in Bangladesh.

These boat people will be sent to Hlaphokhaung transit camp for temporary stay before they are sent back to their original villages or to their relatives’ homes.

Though no refugees came back under the agreement reached between two countries some refugees came back to Myanmar under their own arrangements.