Many Hurdles Yet To Cross Before Repatriation Prof Ali Riaz

Absence of third-party, int’l body to monitor progress most surprising, worrying, he says.

- AKM Moinuddin

Though Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a repatriation arrangement document to start a process in next two months, there are too many hurdles to get over before any repatriation to commence, says an international analyst.

“I’m afraid that within the period stipulated in the signed instrument Myanmar may rush and eventually engage in a small-scale symbolic repatriation to fend off international pressure,” Prof Ali Riaz told Dhaka Courier in an interview.

Amid growing international pressure, Myanmar signed a bilateral document with Bangladesh on Rohingya repatriation on November 23 with no ending deadline amid high hopes that the forcibly displaced Rohingyas will start returning to their homeland within the next two months.

Over 624,000 Rohingyas have crossed the border and taken shelter in Cox’s Bazar district since August 25 amid persecution by Myanmar military in their Rakhine State.

Prof Riaz of the Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University, USA said history clearly indicates of such strategy of the Myanmar regime.

“The ‘instrument’ may neither ensure repatriation of all Rohingya refugees nor allow Bangladesh to involve the international community if the process gets stalled,” he said.

The absence of a third-party, particularly an international body, to monitor the progress of the implementation is the most surprising and worrying to him, he said posing a question, “If a dispute arises how will it be resolved?”

Responding to a question, the analyst said the current document is only a precursor to the ‘physical instrument’ as mentioned in the document made public by both governments.

“Therefore, the main challenge is to sign and implement a mutually acceptable, effective and workable instrument with a specific deadline and signposts along the way,” he said.