Any delay to further complicate Rohingya repatriation process: Foreign secy

Rohingyas, even after the assassination of their leader Mohibullah, want to return to their homeland in Myanmar, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said on Sunday.

"They want to return to the Rakhine State with complete safety, security, and respect. They also want their livelihoods to be ensured.

"This is why we need to facilitate the return of the Rohingyas as soon as possible. The longer the delay, the more complicated the repatriation process will become," he said after his latest visit to the camps in Cox's Bazar.

The foreign secretary advised all to remain vigilant so that any incident as such would never repeat again.

"Tensions are running high inside the camps. The people inside got very scared following the incident. I have had discussions with everyone – including the slain Rohingya leader's family members, and the leaders and activists of his organization. We have strengthened our security efforts there." 

Asked if Mohibullah was assassinated to block the repatriation process, the secretary said, "The incident does not seem to be a major obstacle in repatriating the Rohingyas.

"Talking to the community, it seemed to me that they are genuinely interested in going back to their native country. Those who don't want this to happen, the criminals operating in Cox's Bazar, want to identify themselves as members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa), also known as al-Yaqin in the camps.

"Whereas they are just criminals. It goes without saying that they have no political or ideological grounds."

Mohibullah, 46, who led the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, was shot dead at around 8:30pm at a Kutupalong camp office in Cox's Bazar on Wednesday.

The outspoken Rohingya leader came to the limelight on 25 August 2019, when a rally organised by the Arakan Rohingya Society, to observe two years of the latest Rohingya exodus from the Rakhine State of Myanmar, drew more than 100,000 people.

He had represented the Rohingya community at the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2019.  

He also served as a spokesman representing the Muslim ethnic group in international meetings and conferences.

He, in the same year, visited the White House for a meeting on religious freedom with then-president Donald Trump and spoke about the suffering and persecution faced by Rohingyas in Myanmar.

In his remarks to the UN rights council, Mohibullah said the Rohingya had faced "systematic genocide" in Myanmar, where the government denies them citizenship.

Since 25 August in 2017, Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million forcefully displaced Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar district and most of them arrived there after a military crackdown by Myanmar, which the UN called a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing" and other rights groups dubbed as "genocide".