YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar’s government said it initialed an agreement on Thursday with two U.N. agencies for their help in the return of refugees who fled violence in western Rakhine state.
About 700,000 ethnic Rohingya Muslims have fled since last August, when Myanmar’s army led a brutal crackdown following insurgent attacks on security posts, and are living in squalid camps across the border in Bangladesh.
Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in November to begin repatriating the Rohingya, but the refugees expressed concern that they would be forced to return and would face unsafe conditions in Myanmar if the process is not monitored by international aid groups.
Myanmar’s security forces have been accused of rape, killing, torture and the burning of the homes of Rohingya villagers. The United Nations and the United States have described the army crackdown as “ethnic cleansing.”
The government said it initialed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday with the U.N. Development Program and the U.N. refugee agency for their assistance so that verified displaced people “can return voluntarily in safety and dignity.”
It said the two U.N. agencies would participate in various stages of the return and resettlement, and help provide access to livelihoods.
The government said the memorandum of understanding would be signed “soon.”
Myanmar has said it will only allow refugees with identity documents — which most Rohingya lack — to return.
Rohingya Muslims face official and social discrimination in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, which denies most of them citizenship and basic rights because they are considered immigrants from Bangladesh.
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