Myanmar welcomes Bangladesh plan to start Rohingya repatriation

Move comes as government spokesman vows to no longer answer phone calls from media after International Criminal Court rules it has jurisdiction to investigate crimes against Rohingya

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Myanmar's government spokesman Zaw Htay says he will no longer answer phone calls from media. Photo: EPA

Published: 10:24pm, 7 Sep 2018Updated: 10:24pm, 7 Sep 2018

Myanmar on Friday welcomed the Bangladeshi government’s plan to begin the long-delayed process of repatriating Rohingya refugees back to Rakhine State in the near future.

Speaking to reporters in the country’s administrative capital Naypyidaw at a regular press briefing, government spokesman Zaw Htay, citing Bangladeshi foreign minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali’s comments Wednesday, said the move was “very much welcomed” by Myanmar.

“We have always been hoping for this (beginning of repatriation) and I believe the rest of the process will go smoothly after that,” said Zaw Htay, who is also director general of the president’s office. He added that such cooperation from Bangladesh would help the process move forward quickly.

On Wednesday, Ali, speaking to reporters after attending a seminar on the Rohingya crisis in the capital Dhaka, said the repatriation of the Rohingyas would start soon and his government was ready to send back over 3,000 refugees, according to Bangladeshi media reports.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in November last year to repatriate Rohingya refugees from camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazaar to Rakhine State. But the process, originally planned to begin in January this year, has been delayed for various reasons since.

The International Criminal Court says it has jurisdiction to probe the forced deportation of Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar’s military as a possible crime against humanity. Photo: AFP

According to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR, more than 720,000 Rohingya Muslims fled from Rakhine to neighbouring Bangladesh since the latest round of violence erupted in August last year.

They fled to escape a harsh crackdown launched by the Myanmar government in reprisal for attacks by an armed Rohingya faction against government security posts.