Bangladesh and Myanmar had signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to begin the repatriation Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
What is the MoA about?
A joint working group including officials from Bangladesh, Myanmar and the UNHCR will be set up.
Myanmar would begin to repatriate the refugees within two months.
What was the need?
A military operation by Myanmar in Rakhine, resulted in more than 6,20,000 Rohingya fleeing the province to Bangladesh.
This snowballed into a humanitarian crisis in Bangladesh.
This further resulted in diplomatic cisis between Dhaka and Naypyidaw.
Mediating the issue, China offered a “three-step” solution,
comprising a ceasefire in Rakhine,
a bilateral repatriation deal for the Rohingya to Myanmar and
long-term solutions including the economic development of the Rohingya areas.
China has deep interests in Rakhine, especially in the Kyaukpyu Port.
It has oil and energy pipelines to Yunnan province forming part of a $10 billion economic zone in its Belt and Road Initiative.
Why did Myanmar change its stance?
Myanmar government have denied any wrongdoing by the security forces and have thus far been not accepting more repatriation.
In September, the Human Rights Council in Geneva voted to extend the mandate of an international fact-finding committee to investigate allegations of human rights violations in Myanmar.
UN General Assembly’s Third Committee voted overwhelmingly in condemning Myanmar’s actions.
International human rights agencies have also called for targeted sanctions and an arms embargo.
Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi faced international criticism for not stopping the violence, and several honours given to her for her work in restoring democracy have been revoked.
So the turnaround may be ascribed to growing international pressure as well as United Nations resolutions.
