No fresh initiative has been taken by the interim government for Rohingya repatriation, as Bangladesh could not send back even a single person from the over 12 lakh displaced people in Myanmar to their homeland in the past seven years since the latest influx began in 2017.聽
The moves initiated by the previous government to repatriate the persecuted Rohingyas to the Rakhine State of Myanmar, facing a civil war situation for around three years, did not bear any outcome, according to officials.
The foreign ministry鈥檚 Myanmar wing director general, Ferdousi Shahriar, said that there had been no progress so far in the return聽 of Rohingyas, sheltered in Bangladesh camps as a China-backed project to repatriate some 1,000 Rohingyas on a pilot basis remained stalled for months.
She said that they did not get any fresh instructions on the issue from the interim government, which was formed on August 8 with professor Mohammad Yunus as chief adviser following the August 5 fall of Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India amid a student-led mass uprising, ending her 15-year-long regime.
鈥榃e are expecting fresh directives exclusively to look into the issue of Rohingya repatriation following the changeover in the government,鈥� Ferdousi told 抖阴精品 on Saturday.
She said that the joint efforts for the Rohingya repatriation could not make any headway as there was a civil war situation in Myanmar, which made the conditions not favourable for their return to the Rakhine State.
The overthrown government of the Awami League has blamed on several occasions both international communities, including the United Nations Refugee Agency and Myanmar鈥檚 military regime, for its failure to return Rohingya people from Bangladesh after the large-scale exodus that began on this day in 2017 amid a military crackdown in Rakhine State.聽
The United Nations said on Friday it feared a repeat of the 2017 atrocities committed against the Rohingya minority in Myanmar, warning of an unfolding human tragedy in Rakhine State, the Agence France-Presse reported from Geneva.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk voiced grave alarm about the sharply deteriorating situation across Myanmar, particularly in Rakhine, where he said hundreds of civilians had reportedly been killed while trying to flee fighting.
Clashes have rocked Rakhine since the rebel Arakan Army attacked forces of Myanmar鈥檚 ruling junta in November, ending a ceasefire that had largely held since a military coup in 2021, according to the AFP report published on Friday.
Although international communities, including UN organisations, 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.聽聽
Bangladesh has also sought the 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.
Rohingya community leader Mohammed Syed, who has been residing in a camp at Ukhia in Cox鈥檚 Bazar for around seven years, said that they did not like to live the confined life anymore and wanted to return voluntarily to their homeland without further delay on the assurance that their rights as citizens would be fulfilled.
鈥榃e have been living here for a long time, but we cannot forget our motherland. If we even remain unfed in Myanmar, we feel we will have freedom there,鈥� he told 抖阴精品.
Hamid Hossain, another Rohingya leader at Kutupalang in Ukhia, expressed uncertainty about the fate of the move for their return as the population of their community was increasing every year.
鈥榃e don鈥檛 know whether such a big Rohingya community would be able to return to their homeland by realising our demands. But we want to return to our country of birth. Our future is uncertain here,鈥� he added.聽
At least two attempts to start the repatriation of the displaced Rohingyas from Bangladesh to Myanmar failed, as they refused to return home without a guarantee of their citizenship and security.
Rohingyas observe this day with various programmes including discussion meetings, rallies, and prayer sessions for their relatives killed during the Myanmar military crackdown on this day and later on.