The Myanmar National Human Rights Commission has urged the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh to immediately start the repatriation of more than 700,000 Rohingyas who fled to Bangladesh from northern Rakhine State.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) for repatriating Bangladesh’s Rohingyas should be implemented as soon as possible rather than the countries blaming each other, commission Chair U Win Mra told the Myanmar Times, reports UNB.
“Rather than saying who is not implementing and who is delaying, if both sides implement the MoU effectively and quickly, initiatives can be started for their return,” he said.
The Myanmar government has opened two temporary verification camps, and one repatriation camp, under the supervision of the Immigration Department and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rakhine.
U Win Mra was a member of the commission on northern Rakhine, led by the late UN secretary general Kofi Annan, that was tasked with finding a sustainable solution to the Rakhine crisis. He was also a member of the advisory panel led by Thai Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai.
He said the Myanmar government did not accept the UN Fact-Finding Mission’s report because it was one-sided, and the advisory panel suggested forming an investigation team organized by Myanmar.
