Myanmar says over 3 lakh Rohingyas verified for return when security conditions improves

Myanmar has identified more than 3,00,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh as former residents of its Rakhine State and said it will receive them when security conditions in the region improve, reports The Associated Press (AP).

The country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today (15 August) that it has verified 4,26,545 people from a list of 8,28,824 refugees submitted by Bangladesh.

Of those verified, 3,08,797 were identified as former residents of Rakhine.

The ministry said 113,507 people could not be verified, while 4,241 were found to have been involved in what it described as terrorist activities.

Myanmar said it will continue discussions with Bangladesh to facilitate the return of verified former residents once the security situation in Rakhine becomes more stable.

The announcement comes as the Rohingya refugee crisis enters its ninth year. 

More than 7,00,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh after Myanmar's military launched a crackdown in August 2017, following attacks by a Rohingya insurgent group on security posts in Rakhine. 

They joined hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who had arrived in Bangladesh during earlier waves of violence.

The military operation prompted widespread international accusations of ethnic cleansing and genocide. 

Myanmar does not recognise the Rohingyas as one of the country's 135 officially recognised ethnic groups and instead refers to them as Bengalis.

Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed in 2018 to begin a two-year repatriation process, but repeated efforts to return the refugees have stalled amid concerns over security and living conditions in Rakhine.

The situation worsened after Myanmar's military seized power in 2021, triggering widespread armed resistance. Fighting between the military and the Arakan Army in Rakhine has further complicated repatriation efforts, with the ethnic armed group now controlling large parts of the state.

The ministry also rejected claims that more than 1 million people were displaced from Rakhine, saying more than 540,000 people crossed into Bangladesh following the 2017 violence while more than 200,000 remained in northern Rakhine.

Meanwhile, deteriorating conditions in Bangladesh's refugee camps, cuts in international aid and the lack of safe prospects for return have driven increasing numbers of Rohingya to attempt dangerous sea journeys to Malaysia and Indonesia.

The issue has also surfaced in Malaysia, where Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said last month that Myanmar has agreed to take back 5,000 Rohingya refugees. 

A Myanmar foreign ministry official, however, later told the AP that the programme concerns only verified Myanmar nationals held in Malaysian detention centres and denied that Myanmar had agreed to accept Rohingya refugees.