Rohingya representatives said the village they left behind when they fled Maungdu in Myanmar's Rakhine state six years ago under military persecution no longer exists.
When they came back, they demanded that Myanmar give them citizenship. If not, they will not return to Myanmar. In this situation, the question has arisen whether the repatriation of the Rohingyas will see the light of day.
Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) Mohammad Mizanur Rahman said that the situation has greatly improved during his visit to Maungdaw city in Myanmar. 80 percent of the people who move freely and do business are Rohingyas. Favorable conditions for repatriation have been observed there.
He said that 20 Rohingya delegation including three women expressed their satisfaction in Myanmar, but after reaching Teknaf Jetty they expressed dissatisfaction. He does not understand why the Rohingya representatives are talking about dissatisfaction.
Mohammad Salim, a Rohingya who visited Myanmar with the delegation, said that the Myanmar authorities showed us the camp. We ask them, for whom is the camp for? They said, for you. We asked them to know whether we will get citizenship of this country when we come here, the Myanmar authorities said we will not get it. You must carry your MBC card.
He further said, "We will not return to Myanmar if we do not get the same rights as other communities are enjoying in Myanmar."
Other Rohingyas including the Rohingya couple Ilyas and Jamila also made similar comments.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh-Myanmar agreement on Rohingya repatriation has been in place for about 5 years. But so far not a single Rohingya has been taken back by Myanmar.
Earlier, a delegation of 17 members of the Myanmar government arrived in Bangladesh via Teknaf on March 15. They scrutinized the list of Rohingyas provided by Bangladesh as part of the repatriation process of displaced Rohingya citizens sheltered in Bangladesh to Myanmar.
The delegation stayed at Teknaf land port rest house for seven consecutive days and spoke directly with a total of 486 Rohingyas from 147 Rohingya families sheltered in Bangladesh and recorded their talks. On the morning of March 22, the delegation crossed the Naf River and returned to Myanmar.
At that time, the Myanmar delegation was told by Bangladesh that those Rohingyas who will be repatriated should be arranged so that they can see the overall environment of Rakhine in advance. Following this, the Rohingya delegation went to Rakhine on Friday.