Myanmar to take back 300,000 Rohingya

The military administration of Myanmar has said that it will allow the repatriation of 308,797 Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh and recognise them as previous inhabitants of Rakhine State. However, Naypyidaw has placed several strict standards on the start of this long-delayed repatriation process, chief among them being a significant improvement in Rakhine’s security situation.

Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday that officials had authenticated 426,545 of the 828,824 profiles by July that Dhaka had submitted. Only the 308,797 confirmed former residents are eligible for repatriation; 113,507 people have been disqualified because of unconfirmed identification. In addition, 4,241 refugees who were allegedly involved in ‘terrorist activities’ were excluded from the list. Myanmar made it clear that only verified nationals in foreign detention facilities- rather than the overall refugee population- will be allowed for regional placements.

Due to serious on-the-ground challenges, the realisation of these conditions is still quite questionable. Following the military takeover in 2021, a bilateral arrangement made in 2018 fell apart, and since 2023, the situation has gotten worse as rebels now control the majority of Rakhine State due to intense combat between the rebel Arakan Army and the Myanmar military. Thousands of desperate refugees continue to risk their lives in search of safety abroad as the humanitarian situation in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar camps deteriorates.