Myanmar, Bangladesh sign agreement on Rohingya Muslims

Myanmar’s Union Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor Kyaw Tint Swe (right) and Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abdul Hassan Mahmud Ali exchange notes after signing the Arrangement on Return of Displaced Persons from Rakhine State in Naypyitaw on November 23, 2017

Bangladesh and Myanmar have signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday Nov 23,2017 on the return of Rohingya people who fled the Rakhine state in the wake of a military crackdown.

The deal was signed by Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmud Ali and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw. At least 600,000 Rohingya people have fled Myanmar to the neighbouring Bangladesh since the army started an operation in August following an attack by Rohingya militants.

Under the deal, the repatriation process is expected to begin in two months

Note

The stateless Rohingya have been the target of communal violence and vicious anti-Muslim sentiment in mainly Buddhist Myanmar for years.

They have also been systematically oppressed by the government, which stripped the minority of citizenship and severely restricts their movement, as well as their access to basic services.