Myanmar and Bangladesh will make a fresh attempt next week to repatriate thousands of Rohingya Muslims who fled from Rakhine state two years ago.
Officials said in Dhaka on Thursday that this will be the first attempt to send then back this year after a similar attempt failed last year.
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The Rohingyas had put many conditions including grant of citizenship rights in Myanmar before they return.
More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Rakhine into neighbouring Bangladesh after a military-led crackdown in August 2017.
A total of 3,540 refugees have been cleared for return by Myanmar from a list of more than 22,000 names recently sent by Bangladesh, officials from both countries said.
Bangladesh has been pushing the UN as well as China and India to influence Myanmar to take back the Rohingyas because the Shiekh Hasina government sees them as a huge burden on Bangladesh’s limited resources.
But though Myanmar has agreed to take back Rohingyas whose residence in Rakhine could be verified, the refugees appear frightened to return and want firm international guarantees of security and citizenship before they agree to go back.