Rohingya repatriation needs a politico-diplomatic solution

Media reports published on Wednesday said the return of the Rohingya people to their homeland is not in sight, even four years after the fresh influx of 2017. One slim hope has elapsed as the UNDP and the UNHCR have failed to renew a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Myanmar in June for creating what they said a ‘cosmetic’ environment conducive to the repatriation. The three parties signed the MoU in June 2018 for a year which was then extended twice to extend cooperation through June 2021.
It appears the UN bodies had aimed at building a conducive environment for voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable repatriation of Rohingyas and assisting the returnees to carry on life and livelihood as members of Myanmar society. But as they themselves said their ‘cosmetic quick impact projects’ like installing tube-wells and latrines as part of creating an environment for safe return has failed to deliver. It also attempted a need assessment for creating about 100 Buddhist-majority mixed villages with the presence of few Rohingyas and eventually 250 such villages. Non-cooperation of Myanmar government made the entire plan useless.
Meanwhile, no meeting of the secretary-level joint working group (JWG) of Bangladesh and Myanmar on Rohingya issues was held in the past two years due to reluctance of Myanmar. As we see, the international environment has changed. All nations are now fighting the repeated waves of Coronavirus. The US and European nations which could make an impact on any repatriation deal are devastated. On the other hand the military government in Myanmar is defiant as always to any repatriation move and countries like China and Russia are not showing much interest in resolving the dire humanitarian crisis.
In our view any cosmetic attempt by UN agencies to create an environment for repatriation is just a joke to mitigate the Rohingya problem which needs a political solution. But we can’t also allow permanent Rohingya settlements in Bangladesh like the Palestinians in Jordan and Lebanon. Our government’s ineffective diplomacy is to blame for the failure to resolve the crisis.