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Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to take assistance from the UN refugee agency for the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said on Saturday.
The two governments signed a pact on Thursday settling the terms for the repatriation process, and the return of the Rohingya refugees to Myanmar is expected to start in two months.
Uncertainty over whether the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) would have a role had prompted rights groups to insist that outside monitors were needed to safeguard the Rohingya refugees' return.
More than 600,000 Rohingya sought sanctuary in Bangladesh after Myanmar's military launched a counter-insurgency operation across the northern parts of Rakhine State following attacks by Rohingya militants on an army base and police posts on August 25.
"The signing of the deal is a first step. The two countries will now have to work on more steps," Ali told a news conference.
"Both countries agreed to take assistance from the UNHCR in the Rohingya repatriation process," he said. "Myanmar will take its assistance as per their requirement."
A joint working group of the three parties will be formed within three weeks and the group will fix the final terms to start the repatriation process, said Ali.
"Our priority is to ensure their safe return to their homeland with honor," the minister said.
Under the deal, Myanmar will take measures to see that the returnees will not be settled in temporary places for a long time and Myanmar will issue them an identity card for national verification immediately on their return.
Ali confirmed Rohingya refugees who return to Myanmar will initially have to live in temporary shelters or camps near their abandoned homes. "Primarily they will be kept at temporary shelters or arrangements for a limited time," he told reporters.
(AFP& REUTERS)
