Secret document shows Myanmar recognised Rohingyas as citizens

The government of Myanmar is systematically terrorising the minority-Muslim Rohingya population, forcing them to flee to Bangladesh with their lives. Myanmar justifies its persecution of the minority community by claiming that the Rohingya have no legal residence in the country. In an attempt to erase the Rohingya’s historical ties to Rakhine state that date to the 8th century AD, the Myanmar government even asked the international community to stop using the term “Rohingya.” However, a report published by Forbes claims that a “Repatriation Agreement” with Bangladesh in 1978 constitutes evidence that Myanmar acknowledged that the Rohingya had legal residence in the country. The document, which is marked “Secret,” was published by the Princeton University in 2014. Myanmar (then known as Burma) began repressing the Rohingyas from 1962. The country started registering its citizens to screen out “foreigners,” namely the Rohingya population, in 1977. There are allegations that the Myanmar military used forced eviction, rape and murder to terrorise the Rohingyas. Approximately 200,000 Rohingya refugees entered Bangladesh and settled into 13 UN refugee camps near the border by May 1978. The Burmese authorities claimed that the fleeing refugees are illegal residents, the report said. However, Bangladesh urged Burma to accept the refugees back and managed to enter into an agreement with the then Burmese government regarding the refugee crisis with the help of United Nations. Passage 1(a) of the “Repatriation Agreement” states: “The Government of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma agrees to the repatriation at the earliest of the lawful residents of Burma who are now sheltered in the camps in Bangladesh on the presentation of Burmese National Registration Cards…” Mistreatment and religious persecution caused another 250,000 Rohingya refugees to flee Myanmar for Bangladesh from 1991 to 1992. An agreement between Myanmar and Bangladesh made in 1992 similarly acknowledged the lawful residency of the Rohingya in Burma. The document is titled the “Joint statement by the foreign ministers of Bangladesh & Myanmar issued at the conclusion of the official visit of the Myanmar Foreign Minister to Bangladesh 23-28 April 1992.” The international community must acknowledge Myanmar’s violations of its past agreements and the human rights of the Rohingya, and should increase economic and diplomatic pressure on the country to resolve the ongoing humanitarian crisis.