On October 29, 2021, miscreants shot dead Rohingya organizer Mohib Ullah in Cox's Bazar. Since 2019, he had been organizing the Rohingyas by putting forward a five-point demand for their repatriation to Myanmar. Four years on, when the governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar are initiating a pilot repatriation scheme, the Rohingyas have started an organized campaign on the issue to make sure the process ensures their safety and a dignified life once they return to Myanmar.
The demands announced by Mohib Ullah on their behalf are gaining prominence. In 2019, Mohib Ullah, Chairman of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), said: “We want to return to our country Myanmar with the full support of Bangladesh. The Rohingyas are ready to return with the guarantee of their citizenship, free and dignified living in their homes in Myanmar.”
He also said: “If they are guaranteed their citizenship in Myanmar, restoration of their homes, strengthening of international security and safe repatriation, along with justice over the repression of Rohingyas, they will return to Myanmar.”
Most of the 1.2 million Rohingyas fled a genocide perpetrated in Myanmar's Rakhine State in 2017. After six years of camp life, are they really interested in repatriation?
The leaders of the community replied that when they were being tortured, killed and raped in Myanmar, they fled in fear for their lives and took refuge in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has given them shelter on humanitarian grounds. Now they want to return to Myanmar – to their hometown, not somewhere else.
Rohingya FDMN Representative Committee spokesperson Kamal Hossain said: “We have the right to get citizenship. We want to ensure our citizenship and our rights and security in repatriation through Bangladesh's agreement with Myanmar. What Myanmar is doing in the name of verification with the list of UNHCR and Bangladesh government will further delay the repatriation process. We have to ensure our own safety and honour and return to our homes by ourselves; we have to make an arrangement.”
Syedullah, an organizer of the Rohingya Students Network, said: "There is no alternative to repatriation. But it has to be done properly. We are Myanmar citizens by birth. If they confirm our citizenship and give us back our houses and property, we will definitely leave this place. But we will not accept it if we are taken to another camp. Rohingyas must participate in every step of the repatriation process.”
What do ordinary Rohingyas want?
Among ordinary Rohingyas, there are various opinions about their return home. At present, the question in their minds relates to the reduction of food rations from Tk1,200 to Tk800. As a result, they are hesitant about saying directly whether or not they want to return to their country. This reporter spoke to several people at Kutupalong camp No 1.
A 45-year-old Rohingya man, who runs a tea stall, said on condition of anonymity: "We understand that they will not return our houses to us. As a result, we want the system to be as good as it can be here.”
But opinions about the return among youths vary.
A 26-year-old Rohingya, who participated in the protest rally on June 8, said: "We are the original inhabitants of Arakan (Rakhine State). We are citizens there. I have taken refuge here under special circumstances. If I am to be sent back, I must be sent back to where I came from. It's not true that we don't want to go back.”
The demands of the Rohingyas are also being considered by the Bangladesh authorities.
Additional Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Samsuddouja said: “We're working inside the camps continuously. As a result, there is no chance of stalling the repatriation process. It is our job to implement whatever decision is taken by the government. Normally, they'll want all their demands fulfilled.”
He added: “Initiating the repatriation process is difficult in every refugee crisis, especially the first batch. Once it starts, the rest will be easy.”
