Tripartite virtual talks mediated by China begin

Bangladesh's foreign secretary Masud Bin MomenCollected

The foreign secretary level virtual talks between Bangladesh and Myanmar, mediated by China, have begun to discuss the issue of Rohingya repatriation.

The tripartite meeting began around 2:00pm today, Tuesday.

During these talks being held at a foreign ministry level of the three countries, Bangladesh will place emphasis on sending the Rohingyas back before the beginning of the monsoons and in keeping with lists of Rohingyas made in accordance to specific villages of the Rakhine state.

The three countries at the meeting are being led by Bangladesh’s foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen from the foreign ministry in Dhaka, Myanmar’s foreign secretary Aye Chan from Naypyidaw and China’s deputy minister Luo Zhaohui from Beijing.

This is the first time such a meeting is being held at a foreign secretary level of the three countries. However, Bangladesh foreign ministry officials are not expecting anything significant from this meeting. It is felt that after this meeting, the three countries will have a direct meeting in April or May this year.

Bangladesh wants the repatriation to commence as soon as possible. This meeting is being held with China’s support. China had fixed a date before too, but the meeting was not held as Myanmar didn’t agree
Masud Bin Momen, Bangladesh's foreign secretary

Speaking to the media on Sunday about Bangladesh’s expectations from this tripartite meeting regarding Rohingya repatriation, foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen said, “Bangladesh wants the repatriation to commence as soon as possible. This meeting is being held with China’s support. China had fixed a date before too, but the meeting was not held as Myanmar didn’t agree.”

Bangladesh had given Myanmar a list of 835,000 Rohingyas to be repatriated in six phases from January 2018 to December 2020. Myanmar selected only 42,000 names and sent the list back. But the list sent back by Myanmar is not a full-fledged list as it was supposed to have been based on families.

When asked about Bangladesh’s priority in the talks, given the circumstances, Masud Bin Momen said measures must be taken in light of past experience. There is no use making the same mistakes or proceeding in the same manner. Attempts can be made for a realistic repatriation of the Rohingyas, not based on any random listing, but in keeping with specific villages. A village-specific list can be drawn up based on the list which has been sent back after scrutiny. That will amount to about 1000 to 2000. China has been informed of this matter as well.