Rohingya crisis: Myanmar, Bangladesh agree on border cooperation

Myanmar and Bangladesh have signed two agreements on border cooperation to resolve the Rohingya refugee crisis.

According to Anadolu News, a delegation led by Bangladeshi Home Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Monday went to Myanmar to discuss border security and the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, who fled the violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

Following the meeting, both countries signed two memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on improved border cooperation, including frontier liaison offices.

"The repatriation of those who fled to Bangladesh still needs further negotiation between us," Myanmar's permanent secretary for home affairs said.

More than 5,00,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh since the Myanmar security forces launched an operation in response to alleged attacks by militants on August 25 against 30 police posts and a regimental headquarters.

Earlier this month, Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmood Ali said a total of 3,000 Rohingya refugees were killed since the army crackdown.

On October 12, a United Nations report based on interviews conducted in Bangladesh found that brutal attacks against Rohingyas in the northern Rakhine state have been well-organised, coordinated and systematic, with the intent of not only driving the population out of Myanmar, but preventing them from returning to their homes.

The Rakhine state is home to the Rohingya community of Myanmar, ethnic Muslims, who have long faced persecution in the Buddhist-majority country, especially from the extremists.