TEKNAF, BANGLADESH (AFP) – A Rohingya refugee delegation arrived in Myanmar yesterday to tour new facilities.
Bangladesh is home to about a million Rohingya, most of whom fled a 2017 military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar.
Both countries signed an agreement to return them later that year, but little progress has been made since, and the United Nations (UN) has repeatedly warned conditions were not right for their repatriation.
Bangladesh officials said yesterday 20 Rohingya and seven officials including a border guard officer were visiting two model villages erected for the pilot return project. “We departed from Teknaf jetty with 20 Rohingya members, including three women,” Bangladesh’s deputy refugee commissioner Mohammed Khalid Hossain told AFP.
“They will see the various facilities created for the purpose of repatriation to Myanmar,” he said as their boat left the river port for neighbouring Maungdaw township.
Bangladesh refugee commissioner Mizanur Rahman told AFP the new facilities include a market, hospital and reception centre for returning refugees.
Officials told AFP they expect repatriations to begin later this month, before the annual monsoon season.
