Refugees in Bangladesh who fled violence at hands of the military express concerns over details of the plan

Myanmar’s government has announced an agreement with two UN agencies for the return of refugees who fled violence in Rakhine state, but Rohingya have expressed concerns that it does not do enough to guarantee their safety.

Over 700,000 ethnic Rohingya Muslims have fled to squalid camps in neighbouring Bangladesh since last August, when Myanmar’s army led a brutal crackdown, which saw tens of thousands tortured and killed, villages razed to the ground and women raped, following insurgent attacks on security posts.

'They are our brothers': Rohingya refugees find rare welcome in Aceh Read more

The memorandum is a key step forward in the slow and halting process of repatriation. Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in November to begin repatriating the Rohingya, but the refugees expressed concern that they would be forced to return and would face unsafe conditions in Myanmar if the process was not monitored by aid groups. This was a view echoed by the international community. The UN has been denied access to Rakhine since August last year, but UNHCR and UNDP staff will be able to enter the region and properly assess the conditions.

Knut Ostby, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar, said there were “hundreds of thousands of people living in totally unsustainable conditions on the Bangladesh side. They cannot stay where they are and so it’s important we try to do our best to bring them back home, but in a way that is voluntary, dignified and safe and gives them a chance to rebuild their lives.”



In a statement, the Myanmar government said they had made the agreement with the UN so that verified displaced people “can return voluntarily in safety and dignity”.

However, the details of the memorandum were sparse and left many concerned that it would not address some of the key issues of repatriation, such as whether the UN supported the Myanmar government’s plans to temporarily house those Rohingya who have been accepted back to Myanmar in a 124-acre “transit camp” in Hla Po Khaung, northern Rakhine, before they are sent to one of 11 designated settlement areas to live. Many Rohingya believe these settlements will simply be “open air prisons”.

Bangladesh-based Rohingya political activist Ko Ko Linn alleged that incidents of violence were still being carried out against Rohingya in Myanmar, making safe repatriation seem impossible at this stage. “While the situation for the Rohingya still remains so hostile, we cannot believe that Myanmar has been sincere in the process to repatriate them,” he said.

Another issue is that while the Myanmar government statement specified that the memorandum applied to Rohingya who had been “duly verified”, many lack the necessary paperwork and documentation having fled the violence with few, if any, possessions.

The memorandum also does not spell out the UN’s role in Rakhine post-repatriation, and the role the UN agencies would play in ensuring the Rohingya community were not subject to the same violence, which was described by the US and the UN as ethnic cleansing.

Mohammad Umor, a 48-year-old Rohingya refugee who lives in Balukhali camp since he fled Myanmar in August, told the Guardian that the Rohingya wanted the UN to promise to keep peacekeepers in Rakhine after repatriation.

“They must facilitate our return to our original villages and our confiscated lands and other properties must be returned to us,” said Umor. “We cannot live with those police and soldiers – who raped and killed so many Rohingya people – around us. The UN and Burma [Myanmar] government must keep UN peacekeeping forces for our safety in Rakhine.”

Rohingya militants massacred Hindus in Myanmar, says Amnesty Read more

However, Ostby emphasised that “once the conditions are in place for the return, then we will deal with protection issues when that repatriation happens”.

The UN said in a separate statement that conditions in Myanmar were still not yet appropriate for the return, but that they would be working with the government to make progress.

Ostby said the two key conditions that the Myanmar government had to demonstrate for the UN to green light repatriation were assured citizenship for the Rohingya – ensuring they were “able to have an identity, to be able to exist as normal persons in society” – and also an assurance that they would not be at risk of being attacked or subject to any local violence.

Rohingya Muslims face official and social discrimination in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, which denies most of them citizenship and basic rights by not recognising them as one of the country’s indigenous ethnic groups.

Ensuring that the Rohingya are no longer considered a “stateless people” is a key condition of the memorandum, though so far the Myanmar government has not shown any willingness to accept the Rohingya as citizens, and in official statements often still refers to them derogatorily as “Bengalis”.

The official timeline given for repatriation by the Bangladesh government is two years but Ostby admitted that was optimistic. “It’s more important to make sure we are not bringing people back into an unstable situation,” he said. “It’s an enormous job and obviously this is not a final agreement where everybody will magically be returned. It’s now that the work starts.”

Shaikh Azizur Rahman contributed to this report</s>BANGKOK — Myanmar’s government on Thursday announced that it had reached an agreement with the United Nations that would be a first step toward the possible return of Rohingya Muslims to the country.

Beginning in August last year, about 700,000 Rohingya fled Rakhine State in far western Myanmar for neighboring Bangladesh in the most urgent exodus of humanity in a generation. The Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, were escaping a coordinated military campaign of slaughter, rape and the burning of their villages that some United Nations officials have said may amount to genocide.

While an agreement with the United Nations is a precondition for any meaningful repatriation of Rohingya to Myanmar, even the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees cautioned in a statement on Thursday that “conditions are not conducive for voluntary return yet.”

Few details were available on what the initial memorandum of understanding entailed. Myanmar said United Nations agencies would “cooperate with the government for the repatriation of the displaced persons who have been duly verified so that they can return voluntarily in safety and dignity.”</s>In a statement Thursday, the UN said the agreement aims to create the conditions required for the "voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable" return of Rohinyga to their former homes or wherever they choose.

Under the deal, which is expected to be signed next week, United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will be given access to Rakhine State in western Myanmar for the first time since violence broke out last August.

About 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled across the border to refugee camps in Bangladesh since the military crackdown in Rakhine State last August. The Myanmar military originally said it was undertaking clearance operations in the state following an attack by Rohingya militants which killed 12 security officers on August 25.

However, refugees who escaped told of entire villages being burned, women raped and locals killed. The Rohingya are one of the most persecuted peoples in the world. The predominantly Buddhist Myanmar considers them Bangladeshi but Bangladesh says they're Burmese. As a result, they're effectively stateless.

Yanghee Lee, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, has described the events in Rakhine State as "genocide." "I am becoming more convinced that the crimes committed following 9 October 2016 and 25 August 2017 bear the hallmarks of genocide and call in the strongest terms for accountability," said Lee said in March. The United Nations said in its statement Thursday that UN representatives would be allowed into Rakhine State to "assess the conditions on the ground and carry out protection activities." A statement from the Myanmar Ministry of the Office of the State Counsellor on Thursday said the UN had been invited to take part "in various stages of return and resettlement." When a deal between Myanmar and Bangladesh to resettle Rohingya who chose to return was first announced in November 2017, it was greeted with speculation and concern from international observers and refugees. Out of the hundreds of thousands of people stranded in Bangladeshi refugee camps, only 8,032 names were submitted by Dhaka to Myanmar to consider for repatriation earlier this year. In April the UNHCR cast doubt on the Myanmar government's announcement that it had repatriated the first Rohingya family, saying the UN had not been involved with the case and had no knowledge of it.</s>Myanmar to give UN access over return of Rohingya refugees

YANGON: The United Nations said Myanmar’s government agreed Thursday to grant it access to crisis-hit Rakhine state after months of wrangling over how to repatriate hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees.

The western state has been largely sealed off after a bloody military-led campaign last year that has forced some 700,000 Rohingya to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh into what is now the largest refugee camp in the world.

The UN and US have labelled the crackdown as “ethnic cleansing”, while the army says it was fighting Rohingya militants.Myanmar and Bangladesh signed a repatriation deal in November but so far only a few dozen refugees have returned, with the vast majority of the long-persecuted and stateless minority refusing to come back unless their safety and citizenship are secured.

The UN has said conditions on the ground in Rakhine are not ripe for a safe, voluntary and dignified return, but Thursday’s draft agreement would allow its agencies to gain access to Rakhine, “including to refugees’ places of origin and areas of potential return that has not been permitted since violence broke out in August 2017,” according to its statement.

The access would allow the UN refugee agency to “assess conditions on the ground and carry out protection activities,” it added, without elaborating.Myanmar has said it is ready to take back the Rohingya and has traded accusations with Bangladesh over who is responsible for the delay.

But critics question the sincerity and reach of the new deal.The draft agreement is an “opportunity to help stem the pernicious consequences of the Myanmar government’s persistent denials of independent access to UN agencies,” Human Rights Watch Myanmar researcher Rich Weir said.

“But the agreement will not be worth the paper it is written on if the Myanmar government does not demonstrate through actions that it is willing to open Rakhine state to independent monitors.”

The Myanmar government also said it would set up an “independent” probe to “investigate the violation of human rights and related issues following the terrorist attacks by ARSA,” referring to the Rohingya militant group that attacked in August and killed around a dozen border guard police.

The military used the operation as a pretext for starting the crackdown in northern Rakhine.Myanmar has refused to allow a fact-finding mission set up by the UN Human Rights Council to enter the country, and has barred UN rights expert Yanghee Lee, rejecting nearly all allegations that its security forces committed atrocities in Rakhine.

It has also dismissed an attempt at the ICC to open a probe into the crisis, saying the court has no jurisdiction.New UN envoy for Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener is due to pay a first visit to the country in June for talks on the Rohingya refugee crisis following a Security Council visit.</s>Myanmar and the UN have agreed to take steps to create conditions for the safe return of about 700,000 mostly Muslim Rohingya who have fled military-led violence into Bangladesh.

The agreement announced by the government and two UN agencies on Thursday calls for a framework of cooperation that will lead to the "voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable" repatriation of Rohingya refugees "to their places of origin or of their choosing".

The UN refugee agency said that the conditions for voluntary return are not conducive yet.

The memorandum of understanding, which is expected to be signed next week, "is the first and necessary step to support the government's efforts to change that situation and is also intended to support recovery and resilience-based development for the benefit of all communities living in Rakhine State," UNHCR said in a statement.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in November to begin repatriating the Rohingya, but the refugees expressed concern that they would be forced to return to unsafe conditions in Myanmar if the process is not monitored by international aid groups.

The government said in a statement that it signed the agreement with the UN Development Programme and the UN refugee agency for their assistance so that verified displaced people "can return voluntarily in safety and dignity".

The UN said the agreement also provides for the two agencies to be given access to western Rakhine State, where most of the violence against the Rohingya has occurred since August.

It said that it will allow the refugee agency to assess the situation, carry out protection activities, and provide information to refugees about conditions in their home areas so that they can better decide whether they want to return.

Myanmar's security forces have been accused of rape, killing, torture and the burning of Rohingya homes.

The UN and the United States have described the army crackdown as "ethnic cleansing".

The government has denied the accusations.

The government of predominantly Buddhist Myanmar says Rohingya are illegal migrants from Bangladesh, even though most have lived in the country for generations.

Myanmar has said so far it will only allow refugees with identity documents, which most Rohingya lack, to return.</s>SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Myanmar is willing to take back all 700,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees who have fled to Bangladesh if they volunteer to return, the country’s National Security Adviser Thaung Tun said on Saturday.

He was speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a regional security conference in Singapore, where he was asked if the situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, where most Rohingya live, could trigger use of the Responsibility to Protect framework of the United Nations.

The so-called R2P framework was adopted at the 2005 U.N. World Summit in which nations agreed to protect their own populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and accepted a collective responsibility to encourage and help each other uphold this commitment.

“If you can send back 700,000 on a voluntary basis, we are willing to receive them,” Thaung Tun said. “Can this be called ethnic cleansing?

“There is no war going on, so it’s not war crimes. Crimes against humanity, that could be a consideration, but we need clear evidence. These serious charges should be proved and they should not be bandied about lightly.”

Since August 2017, about 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled a military crackdown in mainly Buddhist Myanmar, many reporting killings, rape and arson on a large scale, U.N. and other aid organizations have said.

The United Nations and aid agencies have described the crackdown on the Rohingya as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing”, an accusation Myanmar rejects.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in January to complete the voluntary repatriation of the refugees within two years.

Myanmar signed an agreement with the United Nations on Thursday aimed at eventually allowing the Rohingya sheltering in Bangladesh to return safely and by choice.

It also said it would set up an independent commission to investigate “the violation of human rights and related issues” in Rakhine State following the army operation there in response to attacks by Rohingya insurgents on security posts.

Thaung Tun said that the narrative of what happened in Rakhine was “incomplete and misleading”.

“Myanmar does not deny that what is unfolding in northern Rakhine is a humanitarian crisis,” he said. “There is no denying that the Muslim community in Rakhine has suffered. The Buddhist Rakhine, Hindu and other ethnic minorities have suffered no less.”

He said that while the military had the right to defend the country, if investigations showed they had acted illegally, action would be taken.</s>YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar and the United Nations agreed to take steps to create conditions for the safe return of about 700,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled military-led violence into Bangladesh.

The agreement announced by the government and two U.N. agencies on Thursday calls for a framework of cooperation that will lead to the "voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable" repatriation of Rohingya refugees "to their places of origin or of their choosing."

The U.N. refugee agency said that the conditions for voluntary return are not conducive yet. The memorandum of understanding — which is expected to be signed next week — "is the first and necessary step to support the government's efforts to change that situation and is also intended to support recovery and resilience-based development for the benefit of all communities living in Rakhine state," UNHCR said in a statement.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in November to begin repatriating the Rohingya, but the refugees expressed concern that they would be forced to return and would face unsafe conditions in Myanmar if the process is not monitored by international aid groups.

The government said in a statement that it initialed the agreement with the U.N. Development Program and UNHCR for their assistance so that verified displaced people "can return voluntarily in safety and dignity."

The U.N. said the agreement also provides for the two agencies to be given access to western Rakhine state, where most of the violence against the Rohingya has occurred since August.

It said that will allow the refugee agency to assess the situation, carry out protection activities, and provide information to refugees about conditions in their home areas so that they can better decide whether they want to return.

Myanmar's security forces have been accused of rape, killing, torture and the burning of Rohingya homes. The United Nations and the United States have described the army crackdown as "ethnic cleansing." The government has denied the accusations, instead blaming the violence on Rohingya insurgents who attacked security posts that triggered the reprisals and the latest exodus of the population that has long been denied citizenship and other basic rights.

The government of predominantly-Buddhist Myanmar says Rohingya are illegal migrants from Bangladesh, even though some have lived in the country for generations.

Myanmar has said so far it will only allow refugees with identity documents — which most Rohingya lack — to return.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Myanmar's government said it reached an agreement on Thursday with two U.N. agencies for their help in the return of refugees who fled violence in western Rakhine state.

About 700,000 ethnic Rohingya Muslims have fled to squalid camps in neighboring Bangladesh since last August, when Myanmar's army led a brutal crackdown following insurgent attacks on security posts.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in November to begin repatriating the Rohingya, but the refugees expressed concern that they would be forced to return and would face unsafe conditions in Myanmar if the process is not monitored by international aid groups.

The government said in a statement that it initialed a memorandum of understanding with the U.N. Development Program and the U.N. refugee agency for their assistance so that verified displaced people “can return voluntarily in safety and dignity.”

The U.N. said in a separate statement that conditions in Myanmar are not yet appropriate for the voluntary return of the Rohingya, but that the agreement would support government efforts to improve the situation.

It said the agreement, which is expected to be formally signed within a week, will provide a framework for the two agencies to be given access to Rakhine state, which has not been allowed since the violence broke out in August.

It said that will allow the refugee agency to assess the situation, carry out protection activities, and provide information to refugees about conditions in their home areas so that they can better decide whether they want to return.

Myanmar's security forces have been accused of rape, killing, torture and the burning of the homes of Rohingya villagers. The United Nations and the United States have described the army crackdown as “ethnic cleansing.”

Myanmar has said it will only allow refugees with identity documents - which most Rohingya lack - to return.

Rohingya Muslims face official and social discrimination in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, which denies most of them citizenship and basic rights because they are considered immigrants from Bangladesh.</s>Myanmar and two UN agencies have announced a deal for the safe return of Rohingya refugees who fled the western Rakhine state after an army-led brutal crackdown.

Almost 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled the country to settle in grimy Bangladeshi camps after what Washington and human rights agencies described as “ethnic cleansing” in a violent campaign led by the country’s army.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in November to return the Rohingya to their home country, but the refugees articulated concerns regarding their safe return and settlement and requested an international entity to overlook the process.

The Myanmar government stated they have agreed with the UN refugee and development agencies for their assistance for the “voluntary” return of Rohingya refugees with “safety and dignity” to their “places of origin or of their choosing.”

The UN refugee agency in a separate statement said the conditions for voluntary return have not been agreed upon yet.

They also said the “memo of understanding” with the Myanmar government is the first step in an effort to change the situation in the country.

“[The memorandum of understanding] is the first and necessary step to support the government’s efforts to change that situation and is also intended to support recovery and resilience-based development for the benefit of all communities living in Rakhine state,” UNHCR said in a statement.

The UN said in a statement the agreement will also grant access to the western Rakhine state where most of the violence took place. The assessment will allow the agencies to report back to the refugees of the conditions and protection activities in their respective areas so they can decide whether they want to return or not.

Myanmar forces have been accused of the most violent of crimes against the Rohingya Muslim minority including rape, killing, torture, and burning homes. The government has repeatedly denied these reports, including one by Amnesty International, claiming the horrifying attacks were retaliation to insurgent attacks.

However, the ethnic Muslim minority in predominantly-Buddhist Myanmar has long been denied basic rights and citizenship.

Myanmar has said, as of now, they will only allow refugees with identity documents to return. Most of Rohingya do not have those.</s>Myanmar's government said it reached an agreement with two U.N. agencies for their help in the return of refugees who fled violence in western Rakhine state.

About 700,000 ethnic Rohingya Muslims have fled to squalid camps in neighboring Bangladesh since last August, when Myanmar's army led a brutal crackdown following insurgent attacks on security posts.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in November to begin repatriating the Rohingya, but the refugees expressed concern that they would be forced to return and would face unsafe conditions in Myanmar if the process is not monitored by international aid groups.

The government said in a statement that it initialed a memorandum of understanding with the U.N. Development Program and the U.N. refugee agency for their assistance so that verified displaced people "can return voluntarily in safety and dignity," as reported by AP.

The U.N. said in a separate statement that conditions in Myanmar are not yet appropriate for the voluntary return of the Rohingya, but that the agreement would support government efforts to improve the situation.

It said the agreement, which is expected to be formally signed within a week, will provide a framework for the two agencies to be given access to Rakhine state, which has not been allowed since the violence broke out in August. It said that will allow the refugee agency to assess the situation, carry out protection activities, and provide information to refugees about conditions in their home areas so that they can better decide whether they want to return.

Myanmar's security forces have been accused of rape, killing, torture and the burning of the homes of Rohingya villagers. The United Nations and the United States have described the army crackdown as "ethnic cleansing."

Myanmar has said it will only allow refugees with identity documents — which most Rohingya lack — to return.

Rohingya Muslims face official and social discrimination in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, which denies most of them citizenship and basic rights because they are considered immigrants from Bangladesh. The Rohingya, described by the U.N. as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012. Since Aug. 25, 2017, some 750,000 Rohingya, mostly children and women, have fled to bordering Bangladesh after Myanmar forces began a crackdown on the minority Muslim community, according to Amnesty International. At least 9,000 Rohingya were killed in Myanmar's Rakhine state from Aug. 25 to Sept. 24, 2017, according to Doctors Without Borders. In a report published last December, the global humanitarian group said the deaths of 71.7 percent or 6,700 Rohingya were caused by violence. They include 730 children below the age of 5.
The government of Myanmar announces that it has reached a repatriation agreement with the United Nations regarding Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, saying it will assure that refugees "can return voluntarily in safety and dignity." Members of the UNHCR and the UNDP will be allowed to work in Rakhine State to monitor the process.