Myanmar disputes accounts of repatriation agreement with Dhaka

Myanmar disputes accounts of repatriation agreement with Dhaka
by -
Mizzima

Myanmar has disputed claims that it has an agreement with Dhaka for the repatriation from Bangladesh of 2,415 people who called themselves Rohingya.

The agreement was disputed in a statement by Deputy Foreign Minister U Thant Kyaw on the website of the President's Office on September 2 following reports about the repatriation decision by some media outlets in Dhaka.

They had reported that an agreement reached between Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary M. Shahidul Haque and U Thant Kyaw at talks in Dhaka on August 31 provided for the repatriation of those who self-identify as Rohingya.

An account of the agreement on the President's Office website on August 31 said it would involve the repatriation over several months of 2,415 Myanmar nationals.

"Myanmar will not accept this as what was agreed between our countries, no matter what they announce in the media," the director of the President's Office, U Zaw Htay, said on his Facebook page on September 2.

The Minister for Information, U Ye Htut, said on his Facebook page the same day that the Myanmar citizenship of the 2,415 refugees had been established in 2005.

Asked by Mizzima for his response to the reports, Rakhine State Government cabinet member U Hla Han said: "We will take back Rakhine nationals who crossed the border but for others, there is no place for them."