Threats and cash: Rohingya refugees under pressure for Myanmar return

By Md. Kamruzzaman and SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Bangladesh and Myanmar have been pushing ahead with a contentious pilot project to repatriate Rohingya refugees, a plan brokered and backed by China.

More than anything else, the proposal – which aims to kick off with the return of some 1,100 refugees – has raised concerns.

Last month, Bangladeshi officials took 20 Rohingya refugees on a go-and-see visit to Myanmar’s Rakhine State to assess conditions for their return, a trip that ended with the Rohingya delegation expressing concerns over the plan.

International rights group, including Human Rights Watch, have joined the chorus of voices opposing the proposal, urging donor governments and the US to “call for a halt to any Rohingya repatriation until conditions are in place for safe and sustainable returns.”

However, despite the backlash, authorities in Bangladesh are apparently willing to do whatever it takes to see the plan through.

From accounts shared by Rohingya community members, it seems to be a carrot-and-stick approach at the moment, although Bangladeshi officials reject the claims.

Ansar, one of the thousands of refugees relocated to the remote Bhasan Char island, told Anadolu of the explicit threats people have faced.

“A Bangladeshi security official came to my house and said: ‘This is not your country. Why do you stay here? Go back to Myanmar or face dire consequences,’” said Ansar, who did not give his full name for fear of reprisals.

On the other hand is the carrot – an offer of $2,000 for every family that opts to head back to Myanmar.

Personnel of the Armed Police Battalion, a Bangladeshi special police unit accused of harassing and intimidating Rohingya refugees, have been making announcements in the Bhasan Char camps, according to Ansar.

“They say we have to visit the office of the camp in-charge to enlist for repatriation. They’ve made several announcements over loudspeakers,” he said.

- Takers and skeptics

There are nearly 1.2 million Rohingya living in Bangladesh, most of whom fled a brutal military crackdown in Rakhine in August 2017.

While the majority are still in congested camps in the southern Cox’s Bazar district, some 30,000 have been shifted to Bhasan Char since late 2020.

Abdur Rohman, a 22-year-old Rohingya refugee on the island, told Anadolu at least 1,200 families have put their names down after being offered the money.

One of his relatives, a Rohingya community leader who did not want to give his name, said he has enlisted all six of his family members.

“There was a meeting between the camp officials and our community leaders,” he said.

“The authorities will go over the list and finalize it. The families that make it to the final list will get $1,000 before the actual repatriation and $1,000 once they get back to Rakhine.”

Rohman, who did not use his real name, chimed in to explain why he thinks people are taking the offer.

“We are living in terrible conditions here on Bhasan Char. We can’t move freely, we don’t have employment, and there’s no access to education or health care,” he said.

“There is just a single health facility. If there’s an emergency, we have no alternative. All of this is pushing people to sign up for repatriation.”

Nur Khan Liton, a rights activist, pointed to the deteriorating security conditions as another factor.

“Many Rohingya community leaders have been murdered. There is a sense of fear among the refugees, and that’s making them take the decision to head back to Myanmar,” he said.

Over in Cox’s Bazar, another Rohingya leader, who also requested anonymity, confirmed that they have also been offered money to go back.

However, he warned that repatriation “without actual citizenship rights in Myanmar” will do nothing to improve the lives of the Rohingya.

“It will do nothing for us. We will just move from one life of confinement to another,” he said.

Mohammed Rezuwan Khan, a Rohingya activist in Cox’s Bazar, echoed the same concerns.

“We don’t trust the Myanmar junta. Our fear is that we will just face more discrimination and oppression back in Rakhine,” he told Anadolu.

“The repatriation process must include citizenship rights and ensure that we can return to our own land in Myanmar, not some sort of concentration camps.”

Myanmar has so far refused to make any assurances of granting citizenship to returning Rohingya, who are effectively stateless as they were denied citizenship under the country’s 1982 Citizenship Law.

According to report by Human Rights Watch in May, a booklet given to Rohingya during their go-and-see visit referred to National Verification Cards, a document that does not grant them citizenship.

- ‘No Bangladeshi officials offering cash’

Bangladesh, however, has categorically rejected the claims that Rohingya are being offered money to return to Myanmar.

“We are working on repatriation in a joint venture with Myanmar authorities, while China is also working as the mediator in this process,” Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh’s refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, told Anadolu.

“But no Bangladeshi officials are offering cash to Rohingya.”

He said Bangladesh has been hosting millions of Rohingya for more than six years, adding that the figure is rapidly rising due to the number of babies being born in the refugee camps.

“There is no alternative other than the peaceful and dignified repatriation of the Rohingya to their homeland. But we want to do it voluntarily, without any sort of pressure,” Rahman asserted.