Myanmar would work with UN on Rohingya repatriations
March 14, 2018
Just 374 Rohingya refugees have been cleared by Myanmar authorities to return to their homes from their shelters in Bangladesh. Estimates put the number of the Rohingya who have fled at 700,000.
Rohingya refugee children await food aid in a refugee camp in BangladeshImage: Getty Images/AFP/M. Uz Zaman
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Government officials in Myanmar announced Wednesday that they have begun discussing with UN agencies the possible repatriation of Rohingya Muslim refugees.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled Myanmar's western state of Rakhine to Bangladesh since last August, following brutal crackdowns carried out by security forces in retaliation for attacks committed by Rohingya insurgent groups.
UN official says Myanmar ethnic cleansing is ongoing
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Foreign Ministry Permanent Secretary Myint Thu confirmed that the Myanmar government had sent the offices of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the UN Development Program an invitation to become involved in the repatriation process. The agencies responded with a proposal and concept paper that the government has under review.
"We considered that the time is now appropriate to invite UNHCR and UNDP to be involved in the repatriation and resettlement process, as well as in carrying out activities supporting the livelihoods and development for all communities in Rakhine state," Myint Thu said.
Neither the UN nor the government have discussed the details of the proposal publicly, but UN spokesman Stanislav Saling confirmed that in the proposal sent to Myanmar, they suggested ways in which the country could help create conditions "for the safe, dignified and voluntary return for refugees, in line with international principles."
Rohingya children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned
The plight of the Rohingya Muslims forced to flee the atrocities committed by militants and the army in Myanmar is hard to stomach. The most vulnerable are children, as John Owens' photo series shows.
Image: DW/J. Owens
Shot and stabbed
Since August, more than 600,000 Rohingya have fled from Myanmar into Bangladesh. "The day the military came, they burnt down the village and shot my mother as she was trying to escape. My father couldn’t walk, so they stabbed him. I saw this with my own eyes," says 10-year-old Mohammed Belal who managed to run away from his village.
Image: DW/J. Owens
Haunted by the trauma
Mohammed’s sister Nur also watched the slaughter. She and her brother now live in a shelter for unaccompanied children in Bangladesh. She can play there and gets regular meals, a stark contrast to her journey from Myanmar where she and her brother nearly starved. But she is still haunted by the trauma of the recent weeks. "I miss my parents, my home, my country," she says.
Image: DW/J. Owens
Deep-rooted conflict
The conflict, which has been going on for 70 years and is rooted in the post-World War II social organization of the country, has claimed more than 2,000 victims since 2016, including the mother of 12-year-old Rahman, above. "They set fire to my home, and my mother was ill, so she could not leave," he says.
Image: DW/J. Owens
Save the children
Dilu-Aara, 5, came to the camp with her sister Rojina after she witnessed her parents being murdered by the military. "I was crying all the time and the bullets were flying over our heads. I escaped somehow." The international aid agency Save the Children is helping minors who come to Kutupalong without parents. Children make up to 60 percent of all Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
Image: DW/J. Owens
Hunted like animals
Jaded Alam is among the hundreds of kids who came to Kutupalong without parents. Fortunately, his aunt cares for him — and very well, he admits. Jaded grew up in a village called Mandi Para where he used to love playing football, but everything changed when the military attacked. "They told us to leave our home. When I was running with my parents, they shot them. They died on the spot," he says.
Image: DW/J. Owens
Child abductions
Not all families have been separated during their plight, however. Rahman Ali has been scouring the refugee camp for weeks now after his 10-year-old son Zifad disappeared. Rumors of child abductions have swirled around the camp for years, and Rahman fears his son has fallen prey to human traffickers. "I can't eat, I can’t sleep. I’m so upset! It’s like I’ve gone mad."
Image: DW/J. Owens
"My mind is not normal"
When the shooting started, Sokina Khatun did all she could to protect her children — but she couldn't save Yasmine,15, and Jamalita, 20, who were in a neighboring village at the time. "Their throats were cut in front of their grandparents," she says. "I was numb, I couldn’t feel the pain. Right now my mind is not normal," she says. She managed to rescue nine of her offspring.
Image: DW/J. Owens
Attacked, raped and robbed
Yasmine thinks she might be 15 but looks considerably younger. In her village, she used to play with marbles and run in the nearby fields, but different memories haunt her now: The attack by Myanmar forces, the beating and murder of her beloved father and brothers, and the rape by a group of Burmese soldiers who also robbed her. "I felt lots of pain in my body," she says.
Image: DW/J. Owens
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Not many Rohingyas eligible so far
Bangladesh and Myanmar had reached a deal in November 2017 to carry out the Rohingya repatriations within two months, but they have still not begun.
Myanmar officials said on Wednesday that they have only been able to verify and approve 374 Rohingya refugees for possible repatriation and blamed Bangladesh for not providing accurate information about the people concerned.
"Out of 8,032, we verified 374. These 374 will be the first batch of the repatriation," Myint Thu said. They can come back when it's convenient for them," he added.
Estimates put the number of Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh at 700,000 and human rights experts do not believe that their safety can be guaranteed upon return. Most Rohingya in Myanmar are considered stateless persons or non-citizens with few rights.
Officials in Bangladesh have expressed doubts about their neighbor's willingness to take back the refugees.
The situation with the Rohingya has caused widespread condemnation from the international community. Myanmar's military has been accused by rights groups of atrocities against the Muslim group that could amount to ethnic cleansing.
The government, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and the country's military have repeatedly denied that they have been involved in any systematic human rights violations.
