Myanmar tags conditions to Rohingya citizenship

The Myanmar government continued to impose conditions on granting citizenship to the Rohingya people on their return to Rakhine while the members of the forcefully displaced community were unwilling to accept the conditions.

Rohingya people might be granted citizenship on their return under the conditions mentioned in the 1982 citizenship law, Myanmar foreign ministry’s permanent secretary Myint Thu said on Sunday after two-day dialogue with Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar.

People who were living in Myanmar for at least three generations would be entitled to apply for naturalised citizenship under the law, he told journalists.

People who would be able to present proof of having national verification card would also be eligible for applying for naturalised citizenship, he said.

Myint Thu led a Myanmar delegation that met with separate groups of the Rohingyas living in makeshift camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar.

Representatives of Rohingya Muslims told the delegation that they did not agree to return to Rakhine without full citizenship rights, ethnic identity, security and assurance of dignity on their return.

Myint Thu said they were willing to take back members of the Rakhine Hindu community at the earliest, who were nearly 4,500 in number.

A delegation representing the Rohingya Hindus said they agreed to go back to Rakhine only if they were allowed to go back to their own villages instead of transit camps planned by the Myanmar government. 

Rohingya people of the Christian community said they did not agree to return without citizenship.

Myint Thu said that they explained the preparations involved in taking back the Rakhine Muslims and both sides agreed to discuss the matter further.

A total of 40 members of the Rohingya community, including 10 Hindus, participated in the discussion.

Representatives from ASEAN member-countries that conducted the need assessment on preparations also attended the meetings between the two sides.

The Myanmar delegation also had meetings with the UN delegations working in Cox’s Bazar.

They would hold a meeting with the Bangladesh foreign officials in Dhaka about the repatriation process on Monday.

ASEAN team leader Nguyen Ky Anh of Vietnam told New Age that they visited northern Rakhine and saw devastations across villages.

The members of the Rohingya community did not agree to return without citizenship, he added.

Refugees, Relief and Repatriation Commissioner in Cox’s Bzar Abul Kalam, Bangladesh ambassador to Myanmar Manjurul Karim, among others, were also present in the meetings.

More than 7,00,000 Rohingyas, mostly women, children and aged people, entered Bangladesh after fleeing unbridled murder, arson and rape during ‘security operations’ by Myanmar military in Rakhine, what the United Nations denounced as ethnic cleansing and genocide, beginning from August 25, 2017.

The last incident of Rohingya influx took the number of undocumented Myanmar nationals and registered refugees in Bangladesh to about 11,16,000, according to estimates by UN agencies and Bangladesh foreign ministry.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net