Repatriation of Rohingyas remains incomplete

By BDNEWS, DhakaJun 19, 2005, 12:35

The repatriation of Rohingya refugees remains incomplete although 12 years have been elapsed since the government took steps in 1993 to send them back to their homes in Myanmar. More than 2.5 lakh Muslim ethnic minorities, popularly known as Rohingya refugees, fled their country, Myanmar, to escape the persecution by the Myanmar military junta in 1991.

The Bangladesh government struck a deal with Myanmar to repatriate the refugees under the mediation of UNHCR in 1993. Since then, a total of 236,594 Rohingya refugees of 47,313 families have been sent back to their homes till March 17 this year, a monthly report of the Refugee Release and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. Now, some 20,544 refugees have still been languishing in the two makeshift camps of Kutupalong and Nayapara in Cox's Bazar for repatriation till Sunday, according to the report jointly made by the RRRC and UNHCR. Besides this, there are an estimated two lakhs 'unofficial' Rohingya refugees living in Cox's Bazar district.

The government's latest plan to send back the remaining refugees by June 2003 could not be implemented as the process was very slow. Moreover, the process of repatriation was stalled for few months last year following political unrest in Myanmar. In the last two years, only 3,323 Rohingyas were repatriated but the high birth rate helped quick rise of the number of refugees. According to RRRC estimate, the number of newborns in the refugee camps is 22 in a week while that of deaths is two. According to sources, the main reasons of the slow repatriation are the lack of motivation of the officials, lack of coordination between officials and various departments of the governments, threats of terrorism by Rohingya militants, reluctance of the refugees to return due to relief-dependence and non-cooperation by the NGOs and aid agency officials.

The alleged link of the refugees with Islamic extremist groups and activists in Bangladesh were also blamed for the slow repatriation.The joint report of RRRC and UNHCR said only 210 refugees were repatriated last year while 3,113 in 2003 and 760 in 2002.In Kutupalong camp, there are about 8,000 refugees awaiting repatriation while there are 12,000 refugees in Nayapara camp. Besides, the Rohingya refugees, there are about 158 refugee in the camps who are from Myanmar (non-Rohingya), Iran, Somalia and Sierra Leon. Repatriation is fully a voluntarily process. None can be forced or families be broken to expedite the repatriation," said Mulusew Mamo, Deputy Representative of UNHCR in Bangladesh.

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