19 December 2017•Update: 19 December 2017
By Mutasim Billah
DHAKA, Bangladesh
Bangladesh and Myanmar on Tuesday formed a joint working group for repatriation of Rohingya refugees.
This came in a meeting between a Bangladeshi delegation led by M Shahidul Haque and Myanmar’s delegation headed by Permanent secretary at Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry Myint Thu in Dhaka.
Since Aug. 25, 2017, around 655,000 Rohingya have crossed from Rakhine state into Bangladesh, raising the total Rohingya population in Cox’s Bazar to 867,000, according to UN.
The refugees are fleeing a military operation in which security forces and Buddhist mobs have killed men, women and children, looted homes and torched Rohingya villages.
The joint panel will have 15 members from each country. Haque will lead Bangladeshi side, while Thu will be the head of his country’s team.
The Bangladeshi foreign minister said the next step of repatriation process will start soon, without mentioning further details.
On Nov. 23, Myanmar and Bangladesh had signed an agreement for repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, who fled to Bangladesh to escape the brutal military crackdown in Rakhine State in recent months.
According to the agreement, Joint Working Committee had to be formed within three weeks and that Myanmar would start repatriation of Rohingya within two months.
On Monday evening, a delegation led by Myanmar’s Permanent Secretary Myint Thu arrived in Dhaka to hold talks.
Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.
