In 2023, a total of 221 Rohingya refugees, who had crossed the border from Bangladesh into Rakhine State unlawfully, were apprehended.
They were detained in Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Rathedaung, Thandwe, and Ann Townships in Rakhine State. Among those apprehended, there were 156 men and 65 women, including at least 39 minors under the age of 18, as reported by Rakhine Daily, a regional news bulletin and the mouthpiece of the Military Council.
Faced with sufferings such as difficult livelihoods, insufficient healthcare and education options, and a scarcity of jobs in the refugee camps in Bangladesh, the Rohingya refugees opted to take the risk of traveling to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand through Myanmar. Unfortunately their journey ended in arrest.
"The lives of refugees in the camps are marked by numerous difficulties and uncertainty. The timing of their return to homelands is unclear, and even if permitted, there's no assurance of settling with human dignity. This is why they take risks to seek opportunities abroad”, Ko Aung Myaing, a resident at Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh, told DMG.
The journey of Rohingya refugees seeking refuge in foreign countries is not a bed of roses; instead it is fraught with thorny obstacles. They frequently face arrest by the authorities of the host nations and legal prosecution for crossing borders illegally.
Since 2017 the Myanmar Military engaged in a huge ethnic cleansing operation against the ethnic minority Rohingya in Rakhine State which resulted in a UN Fact-finding commission concluded amount to crimes against humanity and genocide.
In international justice courts based in Le Hague accepted a case file by Gambia based on the international crimes of mass deportation of 750,000 refugees forced to flee to Bangladesh.
The case has held several hearings in the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
While the Military Council the main defendant in Le Hague , now claims ants to repatriate the Rohingyas refugees, the reality is that those attempting to cross the border still face arrest and imprisonment. Additionally, Rohingya residents in Rakhine State are subject to severe restrictions on their movement.
In August, the Military Council granted amnesty to 108 men and 3 women, all of whom were Muslims held in prisons throughout Myanmar for illegal border crossings. They were subsequently deported to Bangladesh.
"The international community, including Bangladesh, has engaged in multiple discussions and negotiations with the Military Council, yet no concrete progress has been achieved in terms of the repatriation process. This indicates that the Military Council's efforts appear superficial, lacking genuine intent”, a woman from a refugee camp in Myebon Township said.
In 2023, the Military Council engaged in discussions on the repatriation processes for Muslims at least three times with some Asean countries and Bangladesh. Furthermore, on October 31st and November 1st, a delegation, led by Rakhine State Immigration Minister U Saw Naing on behalf of the Military Council, visited Bangladesh to address refugee-related concerns with the host authorities.
However all these moves by the Junta are deeply flawed and they have failed to garner any UN support, as it would be against international law for repatriation without UN agencies first make an assessment that returnees safety, and human rights would be assured.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International has strongly condemned the these diplomatic ploys by the Junta.
The Muslim community expressed that as long as the Military Council fails to implement repatriation processes without effective guarantees of human rights and safety, at a time
when a war is raging with the Arakan Army (AA) making strong gains, the prospect of Muslim refugees returning from Bangladesh remains distant with cases of illegal border crossings persisting.
