On Tuesday (2 May), a meeting was held between Chinese ambassador Yao Wen and Md. Kurshed Alam, acting Foreign Secretary in Dhaka, where Kurshed proposed to send a 20- member Rohingya delegation from Cox’s Bazar to Rakhine state this week to see if a supportive environment has been created for repatriation.
Khurshed Alam told Samakal that the Chinese ambassador had come to discuss the Rohingya issue. But he expressed inability to say more than that.
According to the sources at the meeting, efforts are underway to start the repatriation of Rohingyas within this month through the mediation of China. Because of this, Bangladesh proposed to send the Rohingyas to Rakhine in advance to monitor the situation. This proposal has been rejected for a long time, but now Myanmar has agreed. Efforts are being made to send the delegation to Rakhine by Thursday.
A foreign ministry official told Samakal on condition of anonymity that both Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed to start repatriating Rohingyas before the start of the monsoon season.
So far, Bangladesh has provided complete information of about 830,000 Rohingya to Myanmar. Of these, only 7-8 percent, i.e. about 70,000 Rohingyas, have been verified by the country. Naypyidaw has given a green signal for 52 percent of these 70,000 Rohingyas. Some Rohingya have been identified as terrorists by Myanmar.
“The Rohingya delegation will see with their own eyes how much infrastructure has been built in Rakhine, whether a supportive environment has been created for the Rohingyas to return. After returning from the visit, the delegation will discuss with the Rohingyas. Then Rohingyas will decide what to do. As a result, it is difficult to confirm whether Rohingya repatriation will start within this month,” the official said.
