In a statement Thursday, the UN said the agreement aims to create the conditions required for the "voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable" return of Rohinyga to their former homes or wherever they choose.

Under the deal, which is expected to be signed next week, United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will be given access to Rakhine State in western Myanmar for the first time since violence broke out last August.

About 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled across the border to refugee camps in Bangladesh since the military crackdown in Rakhine State last August. The Myanmar military originally said it was undertaking clearance operations in the state following an attack by Rohingya militants which killed 12 security officers on August 25.

However, refugees who escaped told of entire villages being burned, women raped and locals killed. The Rohingya are one of the most persecuted peoples in the world. The predominantly Buddhist Myanmar considers them Bangladeshi but Bangladesh says they're Burmese. As a result, they're effectively stateless.

Yanghee Lee, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, has described the events in Rakhine State as "genocide." "I am becoming more convinced that the crimes committed following 9 October 2016 and 25 August 2017 bear the hallmarks of genocide and call in the strongest terms for accountability," said Lee said in March. The United Nations said in its statement Thursday that UN representatives would be allowed into Rakhine State to "assess the conditions on the ground and carry out protection activities." A statement from the Myanmar Ministry of the Office of the State Counsellor on Thursday said the UN had been invited to take part "in various stages of return and resettlement." When a deal between Myanmar and Bangladesh to resettle Rohingya who chose to return was first announced in November 2017, it was greeted with speculation and concern from international observers and refugees. Out of the hundreds of thousands of people stranded in Bangladeshi refugee camps, only 8,032 names were submitted by Dhaka to Myanmar to consider for repatriation earlier this year. In April the UNHCR cast doubt on the Myanmar government's announcement that it had repatriated the first Rohingya family, saying the UN had not been involved with the case and had no knowledge of it. </s> BANGKOK — Myanmar’s government on Thursday announced that it had reached an agreement with the United Nations that would be a first step toward the possible return of Rohingya Muslims to the country.

Beginning in August last year, about 700,000 Rohingya fled Rakhine State in far western Myanmar for neighboring Bangladesh in the most urgent exodus of humanity in a generation. The Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, were escaping a coordinated military campaign of slaughter, rape and the burning of their villages that some United Nations officials have said may amount to genocide.

While an agreement with the United Nations is a precondition for any meaningful repatriation of Rohingya to Myanmar, even the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees cautioned in a statement on Thursday that “conditions are not conducive for voluntary return yet.”

Few details were available on what the initial memorandum of understanding entailed. Myanmar said United Nations agencies would “cooperate with the government for the repatriation of the displaced persons who have been duly verified so that they can return voluntarily in safety and dignity.” </s> Refugees in Bangladesh who fled violence at hands of the military express concerns over details of the plan

Myanmar’s government has announced an agreement with two UN agencies for the return of refugees who fled violence in Rakhine state, but Rohingya have expressed concerns that it does not do enough to guarantee their safety.

Over 700,000 ethnic Rohingya Muslims have fled to squalid camps in neighbouring Bangladesh since last August, when Myanmar’s army led a brutal crackdown, which saw tens of thousands tortured and killed, villages razed to the ground and women raped, following insurgent attacks on security posts.

'They are our brothers': Rohingya refugees find rare welcome in Aceh Read more

The memorandum is a key step forward in the slow and halting process of repatriation. Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in November to begin repatriating the Rohingya, but the refugees expressed concern that they would be forced to return and would face unsafe conditions in Myanmar if the process was not monitored by aid groups. This was a view echoed by the international community. The UN has been denied access to Rakhine since August last year, but UNHCR and UNDP staff will be able to enter the region and properly assess the conditions.

Knut Ostby, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar, said there were “hundreds of thousands of people living in totally unsustainable conditions on the Bangladesh side. They cannot stay where they are and so it’s important we try to do our best to bring them back home, but in a way that is voluntary, dignified and safe and gives them a chance to rebuild their lives.”



In a statement, the Myanmar government said they had made the agreement with the UN so that verified displaced people “can return voluntarily in safety and dignity”.

However, the details of the memorandum were sparse and left many concerned that it would not address some of the key issues of repatriation, such as whether the UN supported the Myanmar government’s plans to temporarily house those Rohingya who have been accepted back to Myanmar in a 124-acre “transit camp” in Hla Po Khaung, northern Rakhine, before they are sent to one of 11 designated settlement areas to live. Many Rohingya believe these settlements will simply be “open air prisons”.

Bangladesh-based Rohingya political activist Ko Ko Linn alleged that incidents of violence were still being carried out against Rohingya in Myanmar, making safe repatriation seem impossible at this stage. “While the situation for the Rohingya still remains so hostile, we cannot believe that Myanmar has been sincere in the process to repatriate them,” he said.

Another issue is that while the Myanmar government statement specified that the memorandum applied to Rohingya who had been “duly verified”, many lack the necessary paperwork and documentation having fled the violence with few, if any, possessions.

The memorandum also does not spell out the UN’s role in Rakhine post-repatriation, and the role the UN agencies would play in ensuring the Rohingya community were not subject to the same violence, which was described by the US and the UN as ethnic cleansing.

Mohammad Umor, a 48-year-old Rohingya refugee who lives in Balukhali camp since he fled Myanmar in August, told the Guardian that the Rohingya wanted the UN to promise to keep peacekeepers in Rakhine after repatriation.

“They must facilitate our return to our original villages and our confiscated lands and other properties must be returned to us,” said Umor. “We cannot live with those police and soldiers – who raped and killed so many Rohingya people – around us. The UN and Burma [Myanmar] government must keep UN peacekeeping forces for our safety in Rakhine.”

Rohingya militants massacred Hindus in Myanmar, says Amnesty Read more

However, Ostby emphasised that “once the conditions are in place for the return, then we will deal with protection issues when that repatriation happens”.

The UN said in a separate statement that conditions in Myanmar were still not yet appropriate for the return, but that they would be working with the government to make progress.

Ostby said the two key conditions that the Myanmar government had to demonstrate for the UN to green light repatriation were assured citizenship for the Rohingya – ensuring they were “able to have an identity, to be able to exist as normal persons in society” – and also an assurance that they would not be at risk of being attacked or subject to any local violence.

Rohingya Muslims face official and social discrimination in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, which denies most of them citizenship and basic rights by not recognising them as one of the country’s indigenous ethnic groups.

Ensuring that the Rohingya are no longer considered a “stateless people” is a key condition of the memorandum, though so far the Myanmar government has not shown any willingness to accept the Rohingya as citizens, and in official statements often still refers to them derogatorily as “Bengalis”.

The official timeline given for repatriation by the Bangladesh government is two years but Ostby admitted that was optimistic. “It’s more important to make sure we are not bringing people back into an unstable situation,” he said. “It’s an enormous job and obviously this is not a final agreement where everybody will magically be returned. It’s now that the work starts.”

Shaikh Azizur Rahman contributed to this report </s> YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar and the United Nations agreed to take steps to create conditions for the safe return of about 700,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled military-led violence into Bangladesh.

The agreement announced by the government and two U.N. agencies on Thursday calls for a framework of cooperation that will lead to the "voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable" repatriation of Rohingya refugees "to their places of origin or of their choosing."

The U.N. refugee agency said that the conditions for voluntary return are not conducive yet. The memorandum of understanding — which is expected to be signed next week — "is the first and necessary step to support the government's efforts to change that situation and is also intended to support recovery and resilience-based development for the benefit of all communities living in Rakhine state," UNHCR said in a statement.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in November to begin repatriating the Rohingya, but the refugees expressed concern that they would be forced to return and would face unsafe conditions in Myanmar if the process is not monitored by international aid groups.

The government said in a statement that it initialed the agreement with the U.N. Development Program and UNHCR for their assistance so that verified displaced people "can return voluntarily in safety and dignity."

The U.N. said the agreement also provides for the two agencies to be given access to western Rakhine state, where most of the violence against the Rohingya has occurred since August.

It said that will allow the refugee agency to assess the situation, carry out protection activities, and provide information to refugees about conditions in their home areas so that they can better decide whether they want to return.

Myanmar's security forces have been accused of rape, killing, torture and the burning of Rohingya homes. The United Nations and the United States have described the army crackdown as "ethnic cleansing." The government has denied the accusations, instead blaming the violence on Rohingya insurgents who attacked security posts that triggered the reprisals and the latest exodus of the population that has long been denied citizenship and other basic rights.

The government of predominantly-Buddhist Myanmar says Rohingya are illegal migrants from Bangladesh, even though some have lived in the country for generations.

Myanmar has said so far it will only allow refugees with identity documents — which most Rohingya lack — to return.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> Myanmar and the UN have agreed to take steps to create conditions for the safe return of about 700,000 mostly Muslim Rohingya who have fled military-led violence into Bangladesh.

The agreement announced by the government and two UN agencies on Thursday calls for a framework of cooperation that will lead to the "voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable" repatriation of Rohingya refugees "to their places of origin or of their choosing".

The UN refugee agency said that the conditions for voluntary return are not conducive yet.

The memorandum of understanding, which is expected to be signed next week, "is the first and necessary step to support the government's efforts to change that situation and is also intended to support recovery and resilience-based development for the benefit of all communities living in Rakhine State," UNHCR said in a statement.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in November to begin repatriating the Rohingya, but the refugees expressed concern that they would be forced to return to unsafe conditions in Myanmar if the process is not monitored by international aid groups.

The government said in a statement that it signed the agreement with the UN Development Programme and the UN refugee agency for their assistance so that verified displaced people "can return voluntarily in safety and dignity".

The UN said the agreement also provides for the two agencies to be given access to western Rakhine State, where most of the violence against the Rohingya has occurred since August.

It said that it will allow the refugee agency to assess the situation, carry out protection activities, and provide information to refugees about conditions in their home areas so that they can better decide whether they want to return.

Myanmar's security forces have been accused of rape, killing, torture and the burning of Rohingya homes.

The UN and the United States have described the army crackdown as "ethnic cleansing".

The government has denied the accusations.

The government of predominantly Buddhist Myanmar says Rohingya are illegal migrants from Bangladesh, even though most have lived in the country for generations.

Myanmar has said so far it will only allow refugees with identity documents, which most Rohingya lack, to return. </s> A top Myanmar official said on Monday that a camp to house Rohingya Muslim and Hindu refugees, who return from Bangladesh, will be ready by its promised deadline next week.

More than 650,000 ethnic Rohingya Muslims fled to Bangladesh since Myanmar’s military launched a brutal crackdown in August following attacks on police posts by a militant group. Though Myanmar’s army claimed it was a clearance operation against the terrorists, the United Nations, United States and others have said the operations were “ethnic cleansing” to remove the Rohingya from the country.

Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an agreement in November to repatriate Rohingya and set up a working group last month to oversee the repatriation of people who had fled violence in the northern part of Rakhine state in western Myanmar.

Win Myat Aye, the minister of social welfare, relief and resettlement, said Myanmar was hosting a one-day meeting Monday with Bangladesh officials in the capital Naypyitaw to discuss the logistics of how many Rohingya will be allowed into Myanmar and how they will be scrutinized to be placed in the camps.

Officials plan to start the repatriation process from Jan. 23.

“We are planning ahead to be able to accept the returnees from next week and we are sure that this will be done on time,” Win Myat Aye said.

The UN refugee agency said it is not involved in the process but is willing to play a “constructive role” in the process if allowed, specifically in registering the refugees and helping to determine whether they are returning to Myanmar voluntarily.

“Our involvement in the process and our full access to areas of return in Myanmar can help to build confidence for all concerned, including the refugees,” said Vivian Tan, UNHCR’s senior regional communication officer.

In the November agreement, Myanmar’s civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, pledged to take measures to halt the outflow of Rohingya to Bangladesh and restore normalcy in the region. The UN and rights groups have urged the Myanmar government to ensure the safe and voluntary return of the Rohingya refugees.

Many have questioned whether Rohingya would return to Myanmar under the current circumstances.

Japan’s foreign minister on a visit to Myanmar last week urged Suu Kyi’s government to guarantee the safe and voluntary return of the refugees.

State-run media in Myanmar reported Monday the 124-acre Hla Po Khaung camp will accommodate about 30,000 people in 625 buildings and that at least 100 buildings are to be completed by the end of the month. It would be the first camp built in the repatriation process.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App </s> Myanmar and Bangladesh have agreed to repatriate Rohingya displaced by an army crackdown "within two years", Dhaka said on Tuesday, outlining the first clear timeline for a return of hundreds of thousands of refugees.

The agreement says the process will be "completed preferably within two years from the commencement of repatriation", according to a statement from the Bangladeshi government following talks in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw.

The deal applies to Rohingya who fled Myanmar in two major outbreaks of violence since October 2016, when militants from the stateless Muslim minority first attacked border-guard posts in northern Rakhine state.

It does not cover Rohingya refugees who were living in Bangladesh prior to that date who the UN estimates the number at 200,000.

"During this two-day meeting, we agreed on the form that refugees will have to fill to be able to come back to Myanmar," Mohammad Sufiur Rahman, Bangladesh ambassador in Myanmar told AFP.

"We should be able to start the process in the coming days," he said, but added Myanmar's stated deadline of next week for starting Rohingya repatriation was "not possible".

The agreement follows a pact between the countries in November paving the way for repatriations from 23 January, a deadline that is likely to slip given the logistical challenges of the cross-border operation.

Myanmar has faced intense diplomatic pressure to allow the safe return of Rohingya refugees driven out by its army.

But many Rohingya in crowded camps in Bangladesh say they are reluctant to return to Rakhine state having fled atrocities including murder, rape and arson attacks on their homes.

Despite that, Myanmar authorities have pressed ahead with the construction of a "temporary camp" in Rakhine's Maungdaw district.

Eventually the site "will accommodate about 30,000 people in its 625 buildings" before they can be resettled permanently, Myanmar's state media reported this week. But only a fraction of the buildings have been finished.

Officials from Myanmar and Bangladesh met on Monday to discuss how to implement another deal, signed on 23 November, on the return of more than 650,000 Rohingya who escaped an army crackdown since late August.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has for years denied Rohingya citizenship, freedom of movement and access to many basic services such as healthcare and education. They are considered illegal immigrants from mainly Muslim Bangladesh.

The authorities have said returnees could apply for citizenship if they can show their forebears have lived in Myanmar. But the latest deal – like the one in 1992 – does not guarantee citizenship and it is unclear how many would qualify.

Monday's meeting in Myanmar's capital Naypyitaw was the first for a joint working group set up to hammer out the details of the November repatriation agreement. The group is made up of civil servants from both countries.

Last month, Bangladeshi officials said they had sent a list of 100,000 names to Myanmar for the first round of repatriation. Myanmar is yet to publicly endorse the list or even confirm it has received the names.

Bangladesh officials had said they would begin the process this month by sharing with Myanmar authorities a list of 100,000 Rohingya, picked at random from among registered refugees.

A Myanmar agency set up to oversee repatriation said in a statement recently that two temporary "repatriation and assessment camps" and one other site to accommodate returnees had been set up.

With inputs from AFP and Reuters </s> Myanmar officials say a camp to house Rohingya Muslim and Hindu refugees who return from Bangladesh will be ready by its promised deadline next week.

Myanmar and Bangladesh had signed an agreement in November to repatriate Rohingya and had set up a working group last month to oversee the repatriation of people who had fled violence in the northern part of Rakhine state in western Myanmar.

Win Myat Aye, the minister of social welfare, relief and resettlement, said Myanmar was hosting a one-day meeting with Bangladesh officials in the capital Naypyitaw to discuss the logistics of how many Rohingya will be allowed into Myanmar and how they will be scrutinized to be placed in the camps.

Officials plan to start the repatriation process from Jan. 23.

"We are planning ahead to be able accept the returnees from next week and we are sure that this will be done on time," said Dr. Win Myat Aye, the Union Minister of social welfare, relief and resettlement.

More than 650,000 ethnic Rohingya Muslims fled to Bangladesh since Myanmar's military launched a brutal crackdown in August following attacks on police posts by a militant group. Though Myanmar's army claimed it was a clearance operation against the terrorists, the United Nations, United States and others have said the operations were "ethnic cleansing" to remove the Rohingya from the country.

State-run media in Myanmar reported Monday the 124-acre Hla Po Khaung camp will accommodate about 30,000 people in 625 buildings and that at least 100 buildings are to be completed by the end of the month. It would be the first camp built in the repatriation process.

In the November agreement, Myanmar's civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, pledged to take measures to halt the outflow of Rohingya to Bangladesh and restore normalcy in the region. The U.N and rights groups have urged the Myanmar government to ensure the safe and voluntary return of the Rohingya refugees.

Japan's foreign minister on a visit to Myanmar last week urged Suu Kyi's government to guarantee the safe and voluntary return of the refugees. </s> NAYPYITAW, Myanmar — A U.N. Security Council delegation on Tuesday visited Myanmar’s Rakhine state, from where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled military-led violence, and said they hope to help the refugees return quickly and safely to their homes.

Around 700,000 Rohingya fled the troubled area to squalid camps in Bangladesh last year as Myanmar’s army launched a brutal crackdown following insurgent attacks on security posts.

State television showed the ambassadors touring the border area. They were shown reception camps where refugees who return will first be housed. They also met with members of different groups affected by the violence and upheaval, including Rakhine Buddhists, Hindus and some Rohingya Muslims who did not flee.

The ambassadors visited refugees in Bangladesh over the weekend, and on Monday with Myanmar officials, including the country’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and the military commander-in-chief.

Before flying out of the country, the ambassadors reminded Myanmar’s government of its obligations as a member of the United Nations.

“The return of refugees should be in conformity with international standards,” said Kuwait’s representative, Mansour Ayyad Al-Alotaibi. “It has to be safe and voluntary and dignified, without conditions, without restrictions, without any complications.”

Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed in December to begin repatriating the refugees in January, but there were concerns among rights groups and Rohingya that they would be forced to return and face unsafe conditions in Myanmar.

In its counterinsurgency sweeps in Rakhine state after the attacks last August on security personnel, Myanmar’s military was accused of massive human rights violations, including rape, killing, torture, and the burning of Rohingya homes, that U.N. and U.S. officials have called ethnic cleansing.

“Basically the message we convey is it is very important to improve the security conditions for the return of the refugees, and also collaboration with the international organization, particularly the United Nations,” said Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, ambassador of Peru. “And we also mentioned the importance of the investigation regarding what happened here before the refugees went to Bangladesh.”

The U.N. refugee agency and Bangladesh recently finalized a memorandum of understanding that said the repatriation process must be “safe, voluntary and dignified, in line with international standards.”

The Security Council delegation has asked Myanmar’s government to sign the memorandum.

Myanmar’s government agreed to allow the delegates to visit after previously rejecting U.N. requests.
The government of Myanmar announces that it has reached a repatriation agreement with the United Nations regarding Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, saying it will assure that refugees "can return voluntarily in safety and dignity." Members of the UNHCR and the UNDP will be allowed to work in Rakhine State to monitor the process.