Myanmar’s military-backed government on Saturday said it would accept the return of more than 3 lakh Rohingya refugees currently living in camps in Bangladesh once security conditions improve in western Rakhine State.
The statement from Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs came as the Rohingya refugee crisis entered its ninth year, with hundreds of thousands of refugees still sheltering in Bangladesh after fleeing a military crackdown in August 2017.
The crackdown followed attacks by a Rohingya insurgent group on security posts in Rakhine, forcing more than 7 lakh Rohingya to cross into Bangladesh. They joined hundreds of thousands of others who had already fled previous waves of violence by Myanmar’s military over several decades, reports AP.
The scale, organisation and brutality of the 2017 operation prompted accusations of ethnic cleansing and genocide from the international community, including the United Nations.
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, does not recognise the Rohingya as one of its 135 official ethnic groups. Instead, it refers to them as “Bengalis”, claiming they are migrants from Bangladesh who entered Myanmar illegally.
According to the ministry statement, Myanmar had verified 4,26,545 of the 8,28,824 refugees listed by Bangladesh as of the end of July. Of those verified, 3,08,797 were identified as former residents of Rakhine State.
The ministry said 1,13,507 people could not be verified, while 4,241 were found to have been involved in what it described as terrorist activities.
It said Myanmar would continue working with Bangladesh to receive verified former residents once security conditions in Rakhine become more stable.
The ministry also rejected claims that more than 10 lakh people had been displaced from Rakhine, saying more than 5.4 lakh people crossed into Bangladesh following the 2017 violence, while more than 2 lakh remained in northern Rakhine.
Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed to a two-year repatriation process in 2018. However, plans to return the refugees have failed as security conditions deteriorated following the military takeover in 2021, which ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and triggered widespread armed resistance.
The situation worsened further in 2023 when fighting between the Rakhine-based ethnic Arakan Army and Myanmar’s military intensified over control of the region. The conflict forced more Rohingya to flee towards Bangladesh and other countries.
The Arakan Army currently controls much of Rakhine after capturing territory from the military in recent years.
Meanwhile, worsening conditions in refugee camps, sharp cuts in international aid and the absence of safe repatriation prospects have pushed increasing numbers of Rohingya to attempt dangerous sea journeys to Malaysia and Indonesia on overcrowded boats.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in late July that Myanmar had agreed to take back 5,000 Rohingya refugees living in Malaysia as part of a repatriation programme.
However, Myanmar Foreign Ministry official Han Win Aung told The Associated Press at the time that the programme was only focused on verified Myanmar nationals held in Malaysian detention centres and rejected reports that the government would accept Rohingya refugees.
