Regime’s latest repatriation junket met with trans-border scepticism 

By Admin 06 Nov 2023

DMG Newsroom
6 November 2023, Sittwe

Myanmar’s military regime appears to be pushing ahead with its planned repatriation of Muslim refugees from Bangladesh despite the country it claims rule over being engulfed in civil war, with voices on both sides of the border calling the ostensible effort a cynical ploy intended to ease international pressures.

On October 31 and November 1, a Myanmar regime team led by junta-appointed Social Affairs Minister U Saw Naing of the Arakan State Military Council met with Muslim refugees and Bangladeshi authorities in Teknaf, Bangladesh, and reportedly discussed repatriation — to mixed reviews.

“They explained their plans for repatriation. However, they didn’t listen to the voices of refugees,” said Ko Aung Myaing from the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh.

For months, Muslim refugees in Bangladesh have demanded that they be granted Myanmar citizenship, be allowed to live in their places of origin back in Arakan State, and have their security be guaranteed. They say the regime has as of yet offered no formal response to those demands.

Meanwhile, the Brotherhood Alliance — a tripartite military alliance that includes the Arakan Army (AA) — has been conducting “Operation 1027” in northern Shan State and neighbouring Kachin State, seizing more than 100 junta bases. Local residents in Arakan State are concerned that fresh fighting may erupt much closer to home.

At the same time, Muslim refugees in Bangladesh say they do not think they can return to Arakan State in the near future.

“The military council is only putting on a show for the international community to watch. If they really want to help us, we should have already arrived back in our original villages,” said Ko Aung Myaing.

The regime’s plans for the repatriation of Muslim refugees without AA consent could result in unforeseen consequences, according to politician U Pe Than.

“The opinion of Arakanese people also matters,” he said. “They [the regime] can’t do it themselves without representatives of the Arakanese people. The ULA/AA has said it would assist with repatriation. If the military council brings Muslim refugees back by themselves, and if there are bad consequences, the ULA/AA would not help.”

According to the agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar, the Muslim refugees are to be accommodated at transit camps in Maungdaw upon their return.

“They said we can’t live in our original villages; that we will be resettled in new places. We don’t like that. We only want to live back in our original villages,” said a Muslim refugee woman from the Kutupalong camp.

More than 700,000 Muslims in Arakan State fled to Bangladesh when the Myanmar military carried out brutal so-called “area clearance operations” in the aftermath of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army’s attacks on multiple border guard police outposts in Maungdaw District in 2017.