Bangladesh summons Myanmar envoy over Rohingya remarks

Dhaka has summoned Myanmar Ambassador U Kyaw Soe Moe to formally convey its concerns over recent statements by Myanmar on the Rohingya repatriation process, including what Dhaka described as inaccurate figures on the number of Rohingyas sheltering in Bangladesh.

The ambassador met Director General of the Foreign Ministry’s Myanmar Wing Toufiq-ur-Rahman at the ministry on Tuesday (August 18).

During the meeting, Bangladesh raised several points contained in Myanmar’s August 15 statement on the Rohingya crisis and outlined its objections.

Dhaka said figures cited by Myanmar on the Rohingya population in Bangladesh were inaccurate and urged Myanmar to rely on UN-registered data, which Bangladesh says reflects the actual number of Rohingyas currently in the country.

Bangladesh also called for the verification of displaced Rohingyas to be expedited under existing bilateral agreements. It said the process should include Rohingyas who fled Rakhine State after 2017 as well as children born in refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Dhaka further said information on additional registered Rohingyas outside the 828,824 names currently covered by the verification process would be shared with Myanmar in due course.

Bangladesh also strongly objected to Myanmar’s recent reference to the Rohingya as “Bengalis”. Dhaka said the Rohingya are a distinct ethnic community with their own identity and noted that Myanmar authorities had recognised that identity in the past.

Myanmar’s ambassador assured Bangladesh that its concerns and observations would be conveyed to his government. He also reiterated Myanmar’s commitment to expediting the verification process and beginning the repatriation of verified Rohingyas.

The meeting comes amid renewed diplomatic exchanges between Dhaka and Naypyidaw over the stalled Rohingya repatriation process and deep differences over the refugees’ identity and population figures.