Rohingya refugees' repatriation will begin in mid-November: Dhaka

Myanmar will be taking back hundreds and thousands of displaced Rohingya refugees beginning mid-November.

Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque informed reporters about the repatriation following the third Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting between Bangladesh and Myanmar on Wednesday, reported the Daily Star.

Led by Permanent Secretary of Myanmar foreign ministry Myint Thu, the Myanmar delegation at JWG included senior officials from Myanmar police, Rakhine state government, state counselor office and departments of border affairs, relief, resettlement, health, and immigrant and population as well as Myanmar's ambassador to Bangladesh Lwin Oo.

The Myanmar JWG delegation will be visiting Rohingya refugee camps in Kutupalong today. The delegation is scheduled to observe the living conditions of the Rohingyas, and participate in group discussions with them.

Talking about the repatriation process, Myint Thu said that the process will start next month and directives have been streamlined.

"We have the political will for the repatriation. We will begin the process next month. We have streamlined a lot of directives. We are instructing the police to work with the local community in maintaining law and order. We have been conducting awareness workshops among the police so that they do not discriminate against the Rohingya people," he said.

Myanmar and Bangladesh set up the JWG comprising 15 members from each side in December last year.

Naypyidaw had signed an agreement with Dhaka to resettle around one million citizens of Rakhine State currently living as refugees in Bangladesh.

The Rohingyas are a minority ethnic group in Myanmar and are considered to be illegal immigrants. More than 700,000 of them are languishing in Bangladeshi refugee camps, after fleeing a brutal Myanmar army campaign in August last year.