Bangladesh generously welcomed the persecuted Rohingyas, who fled Rakhine state to escape atrocities by the Myanmar military five years ago, in the hope that they would be able to return home soon. However, an end to the refugee crisis is still nowhere in sight, as Myanmar stubbornly refuses to create an environment conducive to repatriation.

Bangladesh has held several talks with major global actors over the safe repatriation of the Rohingyas to their homeland, but the international community has so far failed to mount sufficient pressure on Myanmar to take back its citizens. The delays in the repatriation process are frustrating for both the Rohingya refugees and the host community.

Over 1.1 million Rohingya refugees are now living in the cramped camps at Cox’s Bazar and on Bhashan Char island.

The United Nations describes the Rohingyas as the world's most persecuted people. It has also documented mass gang rapes, killings - including of infants and young children -and brutal beatings by Myanmar state forces.

Three months after the influx began on August 25, 2017, Bangladesh and Myanmar in November 2017 signed an agreement on the commencement of Rohingya repatriation. In the last five years, despite making repeated promises to take the Rohingyas back, Myanmar has not created a favourable condition for the return of these displaced people.

Two attempts at repatriation were made during the last couple of years, but the moves failed as the Rohingyas declined to return until a safe and dignified environment was created for them in Myanmar.

File Photo: People walk through a marketplace at a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Wednesday, August 11, 2021 Allison Joyce/Dhaka Tribune

The situation worsened with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and a renewed seizure of power by the military in Myanmar in February 2021.

A memorandum of understanding on creating an environment conducive to Rohingya repatriation was signed between Myanmar and two United Nations agencies – the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) – in 2018. The MoU has since been extended thrice, but there has still been no progress on repatriation.

Mohammad Ayaz fled to Bangladesh at the age of 16, after he was shot in his village of Tula Toli in Rakhine on August 30, 2017. He lost 12 members of his family.

The never-ending wait for a safe and dignified return to his home country frustrates him as well as the other Rohingya community members sheltering in Bangladesh.

“We want to go back, but to go there we want justice,” said Ayaz, who lives in Jamtoli camp in Ukhiya. “How long will we have to live like this?”

Foreign Ministry officials are hopeful about beginning the process of repatriation at the end of this year.

“Everything will end here if we become frustrated. We must continue making efforts on our own. Since it is a major pressure for us, we have to intensify our efforts further,” Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said on Sunday.

International community must sustain support

Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who was recently on her maiden visit to Bangladesh, said diplomatic efforts are going on with the international community and Myanmar about the safe repatriation of the Rohingyas.

She reiterated the importance of continuing to ensure that safe and sustainable conditions exist for any return and that the return be conducted in a voluntary and dignified way.

“The UN is doing the best we can to support them. We'll continue doing that,” she said while visiting the Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar.

Pointing to the fact that current conditions are not right for the return home of the Rohingyas, she said: “Repatriation must always be conducted in a voluntary and dignified manner, only when safe and sustainable conditions exist in Myanmar.”

“The international community must sustain its support to Bangladesh in its response, and press Myanmar to create conditions for the Rohingyas’ return, address the root causes and pursue accountability,” she said.

Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), at a press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on Sunday said: “Together, the international community must do more to ensure that the Rohingya do not continue to languish in displacement and redouble efforts for increased political dialogue and diplomatic engagement to create conditions for a voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return.”