BNP ‘upset, sceptic’ over Rohingya repatriation deal with Myanmar over lack of details

The BNP is frustrated and full of doubts over the ‘agreement’ Bangladesh has signed with Myanmar to send back the Rohingyas as the government has not released the details of the deal.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 24 Nov 2017, 12:57 PM
Updated : 24 Nov 2017, 12:57 PM

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has also warned that sending the Rohingyas back to Myanmar before the situation improves there will be like ‘pushing them into the hell’.

“We are very much upset. We don’t know the key features of the agreement. Those haven’t been revealed,” he said, speaking to reporters on Friday.

“How much confidence will they (Rohingyas) have in the deal so that they can return? We don’t know yet whether they will be safe there (in Myanmar) and will not face genocide again,” the BNP leader said. 

Over 600,000 Rohingyas have crossed the border to join around 400,000 refugees in Bangladesh since the Myanmar Army launched an operation dubbed ‘ethnic cleansing’ on Aug 25 in response to insurgent attacks on security forces.

On Thursday, the foreign ministry said Foreign Minister AH Mahmoodl Ali and Union Minister of the Office of Myanmar's State Counsellor, Kyaw Tint Swe, signed an ‘arrangement’ for safe return of the Rohingya refugees who crossed the border in the latest exodus.

The 'arrangement' stipulates that the return shall commence within two months, according to the foreign ministry.

A statement by Myanmar's Ministry of the Office of the State Counsellor had said 'an agreement was reached on the Arrangement' and that both sides 'concurred' it should be signed as soon as possible.

Neither country revealed the details of the deal.

"Now we must begin our work. All the details are in this. We will give details once we return to Dhaka,” Ali had said, describing the deal as the ‘first step’ towards sending back the Rohingyas.

Mirza Fakhrul said, “Myanmar Army is torturing the Rohingyas even now. Many are crossing the border daily.

“I think it will be like pushing them into another hell (if they are sent back) before stopping these atrocities, genocide,” he said.      

He demanded the government reveal the details of the deal. 

“We hope the government has ensured safe and dignified return of the Rohingyas as citizens of Myanmar. Otherwise, it will be a failed deal,” the BNP leader said.

He also criticised the government for ‘not highlighting genocide in Myanmar’ before the international community.

He spoke to the reporters in front of the party’s headquarters in Dhaka’s Naya Paltan after attending funeral prayers of party founder Ziaur Rahman’s brother Ahmed Kamal.