Daily Star: Create conditions for safe return of Rohingya

 We are outraged by Myanmar's latest claims about the Rohingya exodus and the number of people who fled to Bangladesh following the military crackdown in Rakhine in August 2017. After Bangladesh submitted a list of 8,28,824 names to Myanmar for verification, the latter said it had verified 4,26,545 as of July 31 and identified 3,08,797 as former residents of Rakhine. According to Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, more than 5,40,000 people crossed into Bangladesh following the crackdown, while more than 2,00,000 remained in northern Rakhine. It has also said it will accept the return of those verified once security conditions in Rakhine improve. After nearly nine years of Rohingya displacement, these claims are deeply troubling. Bangladesh has rightly rejected them and questioned the reliability and completeness of Myanmar's verification process.

Bangladesh is now hosting more than 12 lakh Rohingyas, including children born during their years in exile. Our government has already borne a huge humanitarian, economic, and environmental burden, while international funding for the camps has declined sharply. A study by Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) found deteriorating living conditions, rising gender-based violence, including physical abuse, sexual exploitation, and forced marriages, as well as severe psychological distress and serious security concerns at the Rohingya camps. With repeated repatriation efforts failing and global aid declining, Bangladesh is struggling to meet the refugees' needs.

In the current situation, what we expect from Myanmar are not false claims and assurances, but a credible, rights-based process that can finally enable the Rohingya to return to their homeland safely and with dignity. Myanmar must take concrete steps to create the conditions necessary for their return, rather than making improved security a precondition without a clear plan for achieving it. Its continued refusal to recognise the Rohingya as one of its ethnic minorities is another fundamental obstacle to sustainable repatriation. It is particularly unfortunate that Myanmar's statement repeatedly referred to the displaced population as "Bengalis", rather than Rohingyas.

The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar documented the displacement of more than 700,000 Rohingya following the August 2017 military operations and found reasonable grounds to infer genocidal intent. The International Court of Justice has completed hearings on the case related to the Rohingya genocide, which examined whether Myanmar is responsible for genocide under the Genocide Convention. Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court is investigating alleged crimes against humanity and other crimes involving individual perpetrators. These accountability processes should reinforce efforts to create conditions for the safe and dignified repatriation of the Rohingya.

Myanmar must work with Bangladesh, the UN, and other humanitarian agencies to establish clear benchmarks for return, including security guarantees, citizenship and other rights, freedom of movement, and access to basic services so that the Rohingyas can rebuild their lives. The process must be voluntary, transparent, and credible, with sufficient safeguards to ensure that those who return will not face renewed persecution.