The recent sectarian violence in Myanmar has jeopardised the
repatriation of Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh for the last 21
years.
Already the process has remained stalled for the last
seven years because of issues such as the unwillingness of the refugees
to go back and complications in getting clearance from the Myanmar
government.
Last month's clashes between Buddhist Rakhines and
Muslim Rohingyas in the neighbouring country have created further
apprehensions about the future of the repatriation.
The situation
worsened at a time when people involved with the refugee issue were
expecting the repatriation to resume with Myanmar's return to democracy.
Officials
say some initiatives were taken in the last few years to send back the
Rohingyas, but things went back to square one as sectarian clashes broke
out in the bordering Myanmarese towns of Maungdaw and Akyab.
Some
2,50,877 Rohingyas took shelter as registered refugees in dozens of
camps across Cox's Bazar district from November 1991 to June 1992. After
this influx, Bangladesh could send back 2,36,599 refugees till 2005,
officials statistics show.
Only 19,000 Rohingyas, including those born here, were left at two refugee camps following the last repatriation in 2005.
But
over the years the number of registered refugees in the two camps --
one at Nayapara of Teknaf and another at Kutupalang of Ukhia upazila --
has risen to 29,325. Around 18 thousand of them live at the Nayapara
camp alone.
Of the total number of refugees in the two camps,
around 4,000 do not get facilities as refugees because they were not
present during the last survey in 2005.
Many refugees who were
absent during the survey later on different occasions came and claimed
to be registered refugees. Although allowed to live in the camps, they
did not get permits to receive rations.
An official said refugees were not allowed to go out of the camp but they hardly follow the rule.
One
of the reasons behind the rise in the number of refugees from around 19
thousand to around 29 thousand in the last seven years is new births.
Some
68 refugees were sent back to Myanmar from Nayapara camp in 2005, and
35 refugees died the same year. But the number rose from 455 that year
due to the birth of 558 children in the refugee families.
After
2005, there was no other repatriation except for some resettlement of
some 926 refugees in third countries in the last few years.
Mohammad
Kamruzzaman, who is in charge of Nayapara camp, recently told The Daily
Star that 57 percent population of the refugee camps were those born
here over the last 21 years.
Population growth rate and the family size of the Rohingya refugees are higher than that of Bangladesh.
According
to the 2011 census, the average family size in the country is 4.4. But
local officials say the figure is over 8 in the Rohingya refugee camps.
Bangladesh's population growth rate is 1.34 percent but that of
Rohingyas' is around 3pc.
Besides, the national infant mortality rate is 37 per thousand a year. In the camps it is only five.
Officials
say they face complications in the process of repatriation, which has
to be voluntary according to a memorandum of understanding between
Bangladesh and United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
Bangladesh needs clearance from Myanmar before sending back even a single Rohingya refugee.
Over
the years, Yangon has given clearance for 10,315 refugees following
verification. More than 15 thousand are yet to get the nod.
Officials say Dhaka sent Yangon a list of around six thousand Rohingya refugees for clearance in August 2009.
As
the repatriation has been stalled for many years, the refugee families
who were waiting to be repatriated despite securing the clearance had
new members born. The additional population would now require the
clearance.
Against this backdrop, Bangladesh made some moves in
the last few years to repatriate the Rohingya refugees. Myanmar also
expressed its willingness to take back some 2,415 refugees from the list
of verified ones.
In November last year, the Myanmar embassy in
Dhaka wrote a letter to Bangladesh, saying its government was “ready and
willing” to receive 2,415 verified individuals under both countries'
approval and in cooperation with UNHCR.
Besides, very few
refugees want to return to their country. Those who are willing to go
back want to return with all the relatives they have in the camps. Even
some families who came from the same villages of Myanmar want to go back
together.
Some officials said there was at least a little hope of repatriation before the early June sectarian clashes.
The
Daily Star talked to a few hundred refugees at Nayapara camp in Teknaf
in the third week of last month. All of them said they would feel
insecure in Myanmar.
“The recent incidents [clashes in Maungdaw
and Akyab] have further delayed the repatriation process,” said Md Feroz
Salah Uddin, the refugee relief and repatriation commissioner.
“But
as soon as the situation [in Myanmar] improves, the process [of
repatriation] will acquire pace,” he said and hoped for a solution to
the recent problems in Myanmar's bordering area with Bangladesh shortly.
Salah
Uddin said it was very important to build confidence among the Rohingya
refugees so that they could decide to go back to their homeland. “I
hope it [repatriation] will be quicker, if Myanmar comes forward to
build this confidence.”
Though there has been no repatriation
since 2005, the authorities have resettled some 926 Rohingya refugees in
Canada, the UK, New Zealand, the US, Norway, Ireland, Sweden and
Australia.
But it has had a negative impact on the repatriation
process, because refugees now prefer resettlement to going back to
Myanmar.
"As time goes by, the issue gets more complicated. But nobody is going for a permanent solution," Salah Uddin said.
Nayapara
camp in-charge Kamruzzaman said there were three solutions:
repatriation, reintegration (merger with the local population) and
resettlement.
Some officials said the UNHCR had been pursuing
Bangladesh for the latter to allow Rohingya refugees to work in its
territory, though they do not have any permission to go out of the camp.
The authorities were even told to let the refugees merge with
Bangladeshis.
Salah Uddin told this correspondent, “Repatriation is the best solution and all efforts should be concentrated on this.”
It
would be helpful if UNHCR gave importance to repatriation, he said,
adding that efforts from UNHCR and international agencies were needed
more in Myanmar for the sake of the repatriation of refugees.
