Myanmar agrees to ‘take back Rohingyas’

Myanmar has agreed to take back the Rohingya people who have crossed into Bangladesh leaving behind their homeland.

The Muslim-majority Rohingyas fled the scene in Rakhine State of Myanmar in the face of persecution carried out by the South-East Asian country’s military forces.

Myanmar’s Union Minister for Home Affairs Lt Gen Kyaw Swe announced this at a bilateral meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart Asaduzzaman Khan in Myanmar capital Naypyidaw on Tuesday, said Md Sharif Mahmud Apu, public relations officer of the Home Ministry.

At the meeting, Myanmar also assured Bangladesh of implementing the recommendations of the Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, Apu told UNB over phone from Naypyidaw.

Both sides decided to form a joint working group by November next to execute the Rohingya repatriation process, said the Home Ministry official.

Besides, two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) -- one for setting up border liaison office and another for security cooperation and dialogue -- were signed at the meeting.

The Myanmar government also agreed to stop the trespass of Rohingyas into the Bangladesh territory.

Meanwhile, Asaduzzaman is scheduled to make a courtesy call on Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday, Apu said.

Besides, border-related issues, including drug smuggling and terrorism, came up for discussions at the meeting.

The Home Minister along with a 15-member Bangladesh delegation went to Myanmar on Monday for the bilateral talks.

The delegation members include Public Security Division Secretary Mostafa Kamal Uddin, Security Services Division Secretary Farid Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, Directors General (DGs) of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Bangladesh Coast Guard and Department of Narcotics Control and Inspector General of Police (IGP).

Some 603,000 Rohingyas have entered Bangladesh since August 25 after military forces launched persecution on them in Rakhine.