DHAKA: Rohingya refugees will be allowed to return to Myanmar “as soon as possible”, a minister said, despite a stillborn repatriation process and UN warnings that the safety of returnees could not be guaranteed. “I am very sure we can start repatriation process as soon as possible.”Myanmar has repeatedly said it is ready for repatriation, but no date has been given for the return, and scepticism is rife in Bangladesh and elsewhere that the stalled refugee return plan will ever be implemented. Myanmar has so far approved fewer than 600 names from a list of more than 8,000 refugees provided by Bangladesh. Last month a top Bangladesh cabinet minister, A.M.A Muhith, said it was unlikely the refugees would ever return, accusing Myanmar of deliberately obstructing the process. Bangladesh foreign minister A.H. Mahmood Ali, who led repatriation talks for his country, told reporters Thursday that the two sides were committed to implementing the refugee deal.

Source: Pakistan Today April 13, 2018 10:18 UTC