The UN is preparing to send experts to Rakhine of Myanmar after the Rohingya return agreement – official

Asia

YANGON: The United Nations is preparing to send teams of experts to the Rakhine State of Myanmar to begin the repatriation of Rohingya Muslims who fled violence last year, said Thursday the regional director of the UN development agency.

UN agencies for development and refugees reached a framework agreement with the Nobel laureate. At the end of May, the government of Aung San Suu Kyi allowed Rohingya Muslims who fled to Bangladesh to return safely and by choice.

Haoliang Xu, Director of the Program United Nations Development in the Asia-Pacific Region Last week, officials were allowed to travel freely in northern Rakhine for the first time since August 2017.

But a first plan of work was to be worked out with the government before the assessment can begin, Xu told Reuters. [traduction] "You can say that we are working with extreme sense of urgency," he said. "We are also preparing in parallel to send teams."

These teams will assess the needs of an estimated number of more than 200,000 Rohingyas and other remaining communities in northern Rakhine, he said.

The main spokesman for the Government of Myanmar, Zaw Htay, was not available to comment

The Myanmar Army launched a crackdown in northern Rakhine in response to militant attacks in August. The civil administration of Suu Kyi defended what she described as a legitimate counter-insurgency operation and denied the allegations of ethnic cleansing. He says he's ready to accept those who have fled.

Xu said the plan was designed to "create conditions for return … by undertaking quick impact projects that will benefit the people who are still there", such as cash-for-work projects , small infrastructure upgrades or agricultural projects

The agreement between the UN and the government has not been made public, but a project was seen by Reuters and was also leaked online last month. leaders and human rights groups have criticized the memorandum of understanding for failing to provide explicit guarantees that those who will return will obtain citizenship or move freely throughout Myanmar.

The Rohingyas consider themselves native to the Rakhine State They are widely regarded as intruders by the Buddhist majority of Myanmar and denied citizenship.

Xu said tackling these issues required "small steps", and said Myanmar was committed to providing a "road to the citizens". p. "

(Report by Simon Lewis, edited by Toby Chopra)