Myanmar has identified 1,80,000 Rohingya refugees from a list of 8,00,000 sheltered in Bangladesh as eligible for repatriation to Myanmar.
The information was disclosed on Friday to Khalilur Rahman, high representative of the chief adviser of Bangladesh, by U Than Shew, deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Myanmar, at a meeting on the sidelines of the 6th BIMSTEC summit in Bangkok, Thailand.
This is the first such confirmed list that constitutes a major step towards the longstanding resolution of the Rohingya crisis.
Bangladesh delivered the original list in six batches from 2018 to 2020, the chief adviser鈥簊 press wing said in a media statement on Friday.
The final verification of another 70,000 Rohingyas is pending for additional scrutiny of their photographs and names, it said.
The Myanmar deputy prime minister and foreign minister also confirmed that the verification of the remaining 5,50,000 Rohingyas on the original list will be undertaken expeditiously.
During the meeting, the high representative expressed his condolences for the earthquake victims of Myanmar and said Bangladesh is ready to send further humanitarian support for the disaster-stricken people.
The Myanmar authorities disclosed the information about the identification of the 1,80,000 Rohingya refugees as eligible for repatriation just four days after the Bangladesh interim government鈥檚 chief adviser鈥檚 visit to China.
During the visit, in a joint statement on March 28, China commended Bangladesh for providing humanitarian assistance to the displaced people from Rakhine state and backed Bangladesh and Myanmar in finding, among others, a mutually acceptable solution through friendly consultations.
China will continue to provide support for the repatriation to the best of its capabilities, said the statement.
Earlier, the United Nations Secretary-General, Ant贸nio Guterres, during his visit to the Rohingya camps on March 14, said the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh want to return to Myanmar and called on the international community to restore peace and uphold their rights.
He underscored two key matters from his discussions with the refugees.
First, the refugees wish to return home and global efforts are needed to ensure their safe and dignified repatriation by ending the discrimination and persecution they faced in Myanmar.
Second, conditions in the camps need improvement while recent cuts in humanitarian aid from the United States and European countries have put food rations at risk.
The overthrown Awami League government earlier blamed on several occasions both international communities, including the United Nations Refugee Agency and Myanmar鈥檚 military regime, for what it said their failure in sending back the displaced Rohingya people from Bangladesh after the large-scale exodus that began in 2017 amid a military crackdown in Rakhine state.
Although international communities assured time and again that they would facilitate the return of the forcibly displaced people by creating a congenial atmosphere in Myanmar, not a single Rohingya could be sent back home since the signing of instruments between Bangladesh and Myanmar in 2018 for repatriation.
Bangladesh has also sought cooperation of China and Japan, among others, to expedite the repatriation process, as they have leverage over Myanmar.
Officials said that the number of Rohingya people has already crossed 12 lakh following the latest exodus of over seven lakh persecuted Myanmar nationals who fled a military crackdown in Rakhine state to Bangladesh for shelter.
