Bangladesh, Myanmar ink Rohingya return deal

Bangladesh has signed a deal with Myanmar for the repatriation of the Rohingya refugees who have fled their homeland in the face state-sponsored persecution.

There is no ending deadline for the repatriation in the deal.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Myanmar’s Minister for State Counsellor’s office Kyauw Tint Swe signed the instrument on Thursday morning. 

The two neighbouring nations struck the deal following a meeting between Bangladesh Foreign Minister and Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi at Suu Kyi’s office.

On Wednesday, the United States said the military operation that drove 620,000 Rohingya to seek sanctuary in neighboring Bangladesh, amounted to “ethnic cleansing”, echoing an accusation first leveled by top U.N. officials in the early days of the humanitarian crisis.

The 1982 law, passed during the junta’s long rule, ties Myanmar citizenship to membership of recognized ethnic groups, an official list that excludes the Rohingya.