Can all 800,000 Rohingya be voluntarily repatriated?

As Rohingya refugees continue to enter Bangladesh, concerns about how long the country will have to host them and the impact it will have on the economy are growing among certain sections of the government and policymakers. According to International Organisation for Migration (IOM), over 430,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh to escape military persecution in Myanmar's Rakhine state since August 25. The ongoing influx has already raised the number of the Rohingya to more than 800,000. Meantime, Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi said that her country was willing to start the verification process “any time” to take back some of the Rohingya refugees. The big question now is how many of these Rohingya refugees will actually be repatriated to Myanmar and when? Voluntary return or voluntary repatriation is the return of a displaced person, a rejected asylum seeker, a refugee, a victim of trafficking or a stranded migrant who is unable or unwilling to remain in the host country. No Rohingya Muslims have voluntarily returned to their homeland after only 92 people from the community were sent back home in the last voluntary repatriation process way back in 2005. But since then, Myanmar hardly responded to the repeated appeals of Bangladesh to restart the repartriation process. Some experts say the repatriation process lost its momentum as Bangladesh lacked the diplomatic efforts necessary for mounting pressure on its counterpart. Many, however, still see a ray of hope in resolving the issue. Referring to Aung San Suu Kyi's statement on taking back the Rohingya, Maj Gen (retd) Anup Kumar Chakma told the Dhaka Tribune that there was nothing to feel let-down. “Suu Kyi address offers a ray of hope to resolve the protracted issue, in which Bangladesh is now on the right track,” he said. “We must keep up the vigorous diplomatic efforts, engaging China and India,” suggested Anup, who had served as Bangladesh’s ambassador to Yangon between 2009 and 2014. Joseph Tripura, Bangladesh spokesperson of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said: “Voluntary repatriation is the best solution for refugees, if the return to the country of origin is safe, where they will also be reintegrated.” According to the UNHCR, around 34,000 Rohingya people now live in the two permanent registered refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. Abul Kalam Azad, head of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission (RRRC), said Bangladesh government had already initiated full diplomatic effort to voluntarily repatriate the Rohingya. Recounting Hasina's UNGA speech underscoring the need of sustainable return of all the Rohingya refugees, Azad expressed his optimism over the resumption of the repatriation process. “The recommendations of Annan Commission and the proposal of our premier to send a UN fact-finding mission to assess the situation could be a solution to the long-pending issue,” added Azad. Headed by former UN chief Kofi Annan, the Rakhine Advisory Commission, well-known as Annan Commission, in its 63-page report recommended that the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh facilitate the voluntary return conforming with international standards and through joint verification. “As many as 250,877 Rohingya refugees had crossed over to Bangladesh in 1991 and, of whom, some 236,599 refugees were repatriated, in phases, through bilateral negotiations between Bangladesh and Myanmar under the UNHCR’s supervision,” he said. In another massive exodus, about 250,000 Rohingya people had entered Bangladesh in 1978 fleeing Myanmar army's“Operation Sit Sin Yay” (Dragon King) . It is the Burma Citizenship Law enacted on October 15, 1982 which stripped the Rohingya people of their citizenship. The law also denies their rights to freedom of movement, access to education and services, and allows arbitrary confiscation of property. When contacted, Asif Munier, a migration and refugee affairs specialist, said Bangladesh should initiate heavy diplomatic effort for the voluntary repatriation of the Rohingya refugees. “Voluntary repatriation is the most preferred long-term solution for the majority of refugees in the world, which Bangladesh should not put on the back burner,” he opined. Munier, also a former National Programme Officer at the IOM, said Bangladesh's Permanent Mission in the UN can play a vital role in this regard. “Bangladesh should also involve China and India in the process,” he suggested. Dr Jalal Uddin Sikder, senior research fellow at the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) of Dhaka University, said: “The age-old relationship between Myanmar and Bangladesh has undergone frequent ups and downs in the last few decades over some contentious issues like refugee repatriation.” “We hope against hope, despite the chances of Rohingya refugee repatriation being way too slim,” he said, however suggesting that Bangladesh mount pressure on Myanmar in this case. “Bangladesh is hard-pressed tackling the continuous influx of Rohingya refugees, who are adding to the existing ones living in the camps in awful conditions,” he said. “Bangladesh must involve China, since it had played a key role in the Rohingya repatriation process during 1992,” said Dr Jalal. “To check the spread of the Rohingya, they need to be relocated at a designated spot like Thengar Char, until repatriation. They should be brought under the biometric registration process without delay, which will greatly help identify and repatriate them,” added Dr Jalal. “Rohingya repatriation has surfaced as a major concern for Bangladesh as it may cause an adverse impact on the socio-economic condition of the country. Bangladesh should prioritise the long-standing issue putting it on top diplomatic agenda,” said Associate Professor Faridul Alam of the International Relations Department at Chittagong University.