China has been playing a mediator’s role between Bangladesh and Myanmar for the last few years to repatriate the Rohingyas who have taken shelter in camps at Cox’s Bazar, to their homeland Rakhine state in Myanmar under a tripartite mechanism.
However, China has failed to provide any “good news” regarding the repatriation as of now.
In this context, Bangladesh has now sought help of China to send back nearly 5,000 Rohingyas, who have been residing on the ‘zero line’ of Bangladesh and Myanmar border near Bandarban.
China ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming called on Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Thursday at the State Guesthouse Padma. The hour-long meeting between the foreign minister and the Chinese envoy was not confined to Rohingya issues only.
Foreign ministry officials said foreign minister and the Chinese envoy discussed Bangladesh’s concerns regarding the deteriorating situation in the Rakhine state in Myanmar, repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar and bilateral relations between Dhaka and Beijing.
I asked him about the good news he wanted to give. The ambassador, in reply, said he had hoped but for nothing substantial has happened. He just said Myanmar stands ready to take back Rohingyas and this is the good news
Talking to the media, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said he told the China ambassador to request Myanmar to take back around 5,000 Rohingya people residing on the zero line of Bangladesh and Myanmar border, because there is fear if they remain there. They can’t be kept there.
Earlier, the China ambassador said he would deliver some “good news” regarding the Rohingya repatriation but that did not happen in Thursday’s meeting.
The foreign minister said, “I asked him about the good news he wanted to give. The ambassador, in reply, said he had hoped but for nothing substantial has happened. He just said Myanmar stands ready to take back Rohingyas and this is the good news.”
Quoting the China ambassador, the foreign minister said the Myanmar’s military government has conveyed that they are ready to take back all the Rohingyas. They would take the Rohingyas back after verifying their identity.
Momen further said Myanmar has this time talked about providing security to the Rohingyas and creating an environment conducive to their voluntarily return.
The foreign minister, however, is doubtful about the sincerity of the Myanmar side as repatriation could not be started despite fixing dates twice. He also declined to say anything about the date of repatriation.
Regarding the situation evolved along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, the foreign minister said after informing the matter to China the situation has improved. Missiles were frequently being fired from the Myanmar side and people along the border were in a panic.
The Myanmar ambassador was told about the border situation. Later the China ambassador was apprised of the matter as well. The missiles have decreased after informing the matter to China, he added.
Since 25 August 2017, Bangladesh has been hosting over 1.2 million forcefully displaced Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar district and most of them arrived there after a military crackdown by Myanmar, which the UN called a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” and other rights groups dubbed as “genocide”.
Myanmar, however, is yet to take back a single Rohingya while repatriation attempts failed twice due to lack of trust among the forcibly displaced people about their safety and security in Rakhine state.