Dhaka urges correction as Myanmar statement based on erroneous statistics
Referring to the latest press statement issued by the Myanmar Foreign Ministry on the Rohingya matter on 15 August, Bangladesh mentioned that many elements of the statement were based on erroneous statistics, including the number of the displaced Rohingya population.
Requesting the Myanmar government on expediting the verification process of the displaced Rohingyas based on agreed bilateral instruments, the foreign ministry said that the data of Rohingyas registered under the UN system reflects their accurate numbers, according to a release posted on the Facebook page of the foreign ministry.
DG (Myanmar) Md Toufiq-ur-Rahman made the request while holding a meeting with Ambassador U Kyaw Soe Moe of Myanmar to Bangladesh at his office at the foreign ministry today, Tuesday.
In a press release last Saturday, Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Myanmar had verified a list of 828,824 refugees provided by Bangladesh as of late July. Authorities confirmed that among the 426,545 individuals verified, 308,797 were residents of Rakhine.
The Myanmar's Foreign Ministry noted that the identities of 113,507 individuals could not be successfully verified. On the other hand, the government claimed that 4,241 individuals had participated in terrorist activities. The country also denied that more than one million people were displaced from Rakhine.
DG Md Toufiq-ur-Rahman requested the Ambassador on expediting the verification process of the displaced Rohingyas based on agreed bilateral instruments including taking into account of the children born in the camps, and the new arrivals, forced to leave Rakhine after 2017.
It was also informed in the meeting that Bangladesh is in the process of registering them and the information of Rohingyas after the caseload of 828,824 would be shared with the Myanmar authorities in due course.
The DG requested to duly reflect these added information in the verification exercise. It was also pointed out that Rohingyas are not ‘Bengalis’ as they have their own ethnic identities accepted by the Myanmar authority until recently.
Ambassador Soe Moe assured to convey Bangladesh’s concerns and observations to his capital and expressed his government’s commitment to expedite the verification process to begin the repatriation of the verified Rohingyas.
The DG reiterated that the only sustainable solution of the crisis lies in safe, dignified, and voluntary repatriation of the Rohingyas to Rakhine.
In 2017, due to a brutal military campaign, nearly 700,000 Rohingya (over 800,000 according to Bangladesh's estimates) were forced to flee across the border into Bangladesh.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees were already living in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, having fled earlier to escape brutal violence by the Myanmar military and ethnic militias. They have been living in Bangladesh for a long time.