Myanmar is ready to receive all the Muslim refugees who have fled to Bangladesh who want to return, according to senior government officials. Preparations are in place for their immediate return, said the minister in charge of the repatriation and resettlement programme.
And one obstacle -- an agreement -- between the UN and Myanmar is close to being signed, which may allow a speedy start to the repatriation process.
"We are ready, we have been ready since the bilateral agreement came into force at the start of this year, and we are still ready to receive the refugees," Win Myat Aye, Myanmar's social welfare mister told the Bangkok Post. The hold up, he insisted, contrary to international perceptions was on the Bangladesh side.
Larry Jagan is a Myanmar specialist and former BBC World Service news editor for the region.
"If you can send back 700,000 on a voluntary basis, we are willing to receive them," Myanmar's National Security Adviser, Thaung Tun told aninternational audience in Singapore this weekend.
But -- as agreed in the bilateral agreement between the two countries -- the repatriation must be voluntary, safe and dignified, Dr Win told the Bangkok Post. "Security is Myanmar's responsibility, and the refugees will be guaranteed the same level of security as all citizens, irrespective of religion or ethnicity," the minister stressed.
The repatriation process was supposed to have started earlier this year, within two months of Bangladesh and Myanmar signing the bilateral agreement, but has been repeatedly stalled, despite several meetings of the bilateral working committee, in Bangladesh and Myanmar. "Discussions are ongoing", said the social welfare minister. "But we keep telling the Bangladesh side that we want to start the repatriation process as soon as possible."
Dhaka has sent a list of more than 8,000 refugees who say they want to be "voluntarily repatriated", and although these names were not complied from an agreed form, Myanmar has agreed to the return of over a thousand of them. But still nothing has happened, the minister lamented. No refugees have return in March, April or May. "We fear that the Bangladesh authorities do not want to begin the repatriation process -- although we want to start it -- they must have their own reasons for dragging their feet," he said.
Bangladesh of course disputes this. "Bangladesh is committed to implementing the bilateral instruments on repatriation to the letter and spirit," said a Bangladesh diplomat in the Yangon embassy on condition of anonymity. "We seek a durable and just solution to this protracted problem," he said.
"We believe, creating conducive environment in the Rakhine state to ensure safety, security, dignity and livelihood of the returnees is a must for voluntary return," he said. "This goes beyond erecting structures for reception centers or technicalities associated with verification. Creating conducive condition calls for real change on the ground, change in the long-practiced policy of exclusion, bringing in a culture of accountability and justice."
Myanmar remains far from convinced that the refugees are being informed accurately about the preparations being made for the return of the refugees. "It's more than building reception centres," said Dr Win.
Houses are being erected for the resettlement of the returning refugees, model villages created and provisions being made for the returnees to resume farming their land and find employment, according to Prof Aung Tun Thet, chief coordinator of the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine, which is responsible for much of the government's preparations in Rakhine.
Much stress is being put on education and reconciliation. "The government has to combat the enormous mistrust between the communities in Rakhine," said Aung Tun Thet. There is now dialogue between the different communities, especially the Muslims and local Buddhists. "Education is very important --while its important all over Myanmar -- its particularly critical in Rakhine," said the educationalist and member of the UEHRD team, Kyaw Myaing.
"Young people will be taught to live together in harmony so there will be less mistrust and less hatred. But of course it will take time, and its has to be an integral part of the curriculum." A start has already been made with the creation of the curriculum youth volunteer programme in the area, bringing young people of all religions and ethnicity to work together in providing humanitarian assistance.
One obstacle to the start of the repatriation programme was the stalled negotiations between the government and the UN -- UNDP and UNHCR -- and Myanmar. These are the two main operational parts of the UN organisation on the ground, which would be lead agencies involved in any repatriation and development in Rakhine. The UN and Bangladesh signed a MoU some time ago.
Now both sides have initialled the MoU, according to official statements put out separately by the UN and the Myanmar government. It is to be formally signed in the next few days, according to Myanmar government officials. "This tripartite Memorandum will establish a framework for cooperation aimed at creating the conditions conducive to the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable repatriation of Rohingya refugees to their places of origin or of their choosing," said the UN statement from Geneva and New York.
"Since the conditions are not conducive for voluntary return yet, the MoU is the first and necessary step to support the government's efforts to change that situation and is also intended to support recovery and resilience-based development for the benefit of all communities living in Rakhine state," the statement said.
According to the agreement, the UN teams will be allowed unhindered access to Rakhine state, including to refugees' places of origin and areas of potential return. It will allow the UN to provide what it calls protection activities, but also to assess whether the conditions are safe for the refugees return. Something the Bangladesh government insists on: the real situation on the ground should be independently verifiable, said a Bangladeshi diplomat. "While prospective returnees are not convinced of what lies ahead for them after their return, voluntary return cannot commence."
But the Myanmar government remains sanguine that their preparations are sound and that the situation is indeed secure for their return. The threat of further terrorist attacks in Rakhine has been neutralised, according to Myanmar intelligence sources.
The Arakan Rohingya Solidarity Army (ARSA) who claimed responsibility for the insurgent attacks in August last year in Rakhine -- killing a score of Myanmar security forces and unleashed the military's draconian security seeps that led to the exodus of some million Muslim refugees -- has been sent on the run and no longer have any strongholds inside Myanmar.
Earlier this year, according to security sources, three ARSA operatives -- including a Pakistani -- were detained in Rakhine. They have been providing a substantial intelligence on the ARSA and its operations. Now the Myanmar government seems upbeat that it has the situation in Rakhine under control and it is ready for the return of the refugees. "We are committed to solve the problems in Rakhine in a few years time," said Dr Win. "We must take back all the refugees who want to come back. It doesn't matter how long it takes, we have to start the repatriation as quickly possible, and we have to proceed as quickly as possible."