Myanmar has suddenly displayed an interest in Rohingya repatriation. As part of their initiative in this regard, diplomats of eight countries posted in Yangon were taken to Rakhine last week. They included diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China, among other countries.

The country has now brought forward the issue of taking back over a thousand Rohingyas from Bangladesh, under a pilot project. According to diplomatic sources of Dhaka and Yangon, Myanmar is taking up this initiative basically under pressure from China.

Three months after the Rohingyas were driven out of Rakhine, in November 2017 an agreement regarding repatriation was signed between Bangladesh and Myanmar. China was behind the agreement. However, there has been no progress in Rohingya repatriation over the last six years.

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There was an attempt at a first phase of repatriation within 2018, the deadline stipulated by Bangladesh and Myanmar, but that failed. Later in 2019 the efforts of repatriation resumed under China’s mediation, but that proved to be a failure too.

In February 2021 the military took over power in Myanmar through a coup. Since then, discussions regarding Rohingya repatriation have fallen flat.

According to diplomatic sources, after China joined in the talks regarding Rohingya repatriation, there have been discussions from 2020 on small scale repatriation of the Rohingyas to Rakhine. Over the past few months China has put pressure on Myanmar in this connection. While ASEAN is not taking up the Rohingya problem on a large scale, this bloc of Southeast Asian countries also wants the repatriation to start, even if on a small scale. As part of these developments, eleven diplomats of eight countries were taken on a visit to the temporary camps in Maungdaw and Sittwe of Myanmar.

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