Narinjara News, 11 March 2022

Bangladesh has recently handed over a list of more than 1,000 Rohingya refugees to Myanmar to verify for thepurpose of repatriation under a pilotproject, said a Dhaka Tribune report.

Both the neighbouring countries have been working to start the pilot project for the long-awaited Rohingyarepatriation initiative before therainy days, quoting responsible officials, the Bnagla media outlet added.

The Myanmar government is verifying the list of refugees, which was sent by the Bangla government.

It wants to start the pilot project as early as possible so that the military government can earn areputation from the international community.

Bangladesh hosts nearly onemillion Rohingya refugees, who fled from Rakhinein 2017, and has long been urging the international community to pressurize the Myanmar militaryrulers to speed up the process.

Recently, the military authorities organised a visit for the diplomats from 11 countries including Bangladesh,India and China to Rakhine with anaim to monitor the ground situation, stated the media report.

The delegates visited a number of places including Nakhua reception center opposite Teknaf and a nearbyvillage, a refugee camp in Sittwe andanother internally displaced people’s camp in Kyauk Phyu region.

The visiting envoys observed that the security scenario in Rakhine State was stable. They opined that thesituation was favorable to startthe repatriation process.

As the number of Rohingyas taking shelter in Bangladesh was high, all parties wanted to send a small group ofpeople to assess the situation first.They preferred to start the primary repatriation process only after scanning the pilot project.

The monsoon season in Myanmar will start next month. A source in Myanmar foreign affairs revealed thatthe verification process was almostcompleted. The Rohingya nationals will be received at two reception centres in Myanmar and thosecentres have been completed.

From the centres, the Rohingyas will be taken to a transit large camp and they will stay there for some days.later they will be sent back totheir respective places.

Various steps have been taken to maintain peace in Rakhine and facilities are being planned forlivelihood, health and education to theRohingyas. Recently, 200 Muslim students were admitted to Sittwe
University, said a source in the ministry.

Muslims have been encouraged to get access to medical treatment. Many Arakanese people prefer to visitBangladesh for medical purposes. Otherwise,the security, livelihood, education and health conditions of Burmese Muslims have been improved.