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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
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.