7,000 Muslim refugees will be accepted by Myanmar by this year

About 7,000 Muslim refugees, who are taking shelter in Bangladesh will be accepted by Myanmar this year, said Dr Ko Ko Naing, permanent secretary of the military council.

"Initially, we will accept a small number of refugees under a pilot project. After solving various challenging problems, we will try to accommodate more people. Under the Yunnan-Kunming agreement we will accept 7,000 people this year,” he added.

 The military council has already installed reception camps in Maungdaw areas for the refugees who are re-entering Myanmar.

On 2 September, a group of diplomats from 16 countries including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, etc visited the Hla Pho Khaung repatriation camp in northern Maungdaw township. The group was led by Union minister Ko Ko Hlaing.

Dr Ko Ko Naing’s statement has been published in today's military sponsored newspapers.

All the refugees returning from Bangladesh will be screened by the immigration department for security reasons. After the e-ID verification, they will be offered citizenship cards.

They will be temporarily housed at the reception centers for some days. Then they will be sent to Hla Po Khao inter repatriation camp and finally the refugees will be allowed to move to permanent settlements.

"After staying a few days in the temporary camp, the refugees will have to move to their places permanently. About 20 villages have been cleared for them. These will become new villages and will be close to old villages, where originally they lived," he added.

 The military council will provide food items for three months and those associated with the fishing will be given boats and nets.

 “The authorities will also provide seeds, manures, ploughs, tractors, water pumps, etc. For the time being, we will provide food grains and drinking water for three months," he stated adding that the military council had been trying since 2022 to accept those refugees.

However, if the military council is working on repatriation of refugees from Bangladesh without any discussion with the United League of Arakan (ULA), it may not be successful. Political observers believe that the junta authorities should discuss the process with Arakan Army (AA) as well.