UN Expert Urges Myanmar, Bangladesh To Postpone Rohingya Refugees Repatriation Plan

UN Expert Urges Myanmar, Bangladesh to Postpone Rohingya Refugees Repatriation Plan

The implementation of a repatriation plan for Rohingya refugees, proposed by the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh and set for mid-November, should be postponed, as the authorities of Myanmar have failed to provide guarantees for Rohingya refugees' safe return, Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, said Wednesday

GENEVA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th November, 2018) The implementation of a repatriation plan for Rohingya refugees, proposed by the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh and set for mid-November, should be postponed, as the authorities of Myanmar have failed to provide guarantees for Rohingya refugees' safe return, Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, said Wednesday.

On October 30, the authorities of Bangladesh and Myanmar met in Dhaka, where they reached an agreement to begin the repatriation of Rohingyas from Bangladesh. It was announced that the sides had developed a "very concrete plan" to start repatriations in mid-November.

"I have not seen any evidence of the Government of Myanmar taking concrete and visible measures to create an environment where the Rohingya can return to their place of origin and live there safely with their fundamental rights guaranteed ... I urge the Governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar to halt these rushed plans for repatriation, to ensure the protection of the Rohingya refugees and to adhere to their international human rights and refugee law obligations to ensure any returns are safe, sustainable, voluntary and dignified," she said.

According to the expert, many Rohingya refugees currently residing in Cox's Bazar camp in Bangladesh fear that their Names can be put on the list of those to be repatriated back to Myanmar.

She stressed that the refugees must be given an opportunity to decide themselves whether to return to Myanmar or not.

"Any returns under current conditions where there is high risk of persecution, may violate obligations under customary international law to uphold the principle of non-refoulement," the UN expert added.

Rohingyas, a Muslim minority in Myanmar, have been fleeing their homes to avoid waves of violence following the government's deployment of police and military units in response to an attack by Rohingya insurgents on security posts in the Rakhine State on August 25, 2017. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), nearly 700,000 Rohingyas have left the country for Bangladesh since last August for the fear of persecution.

The stateless minority has long been fighting discrimination and persecution, as the Myanmar government claims they are migrants from Bangladesh who occupied the Rakhine territory. Despite the fact that most of the Rohingyas were born in Myanmar, they have no citizenship and are deprived of the social benefits such as health care and education.