Myanmar and Bangladesh accept India's proposal to resolve Rohingya crisis

New Delhi: Myanmar and Bangladesh have finally agreed to an Indian proposal to resolve the ongoing Rohingya refugee crisis. According to the proposal, both Myanmar and Bangladesh government will form a joint working group to identify bonafide Rohingya refugees who have taken shelter in Cox's Bazar area of Bangladesh. After identification Myanmar government would take back all the Rohingya refugees into the Rakhine province and rehabilitate them.

Myanmar and Bangladesh foreign ministers, on Monday, agreed to form a joint working group to identify Rohingya refugees. In fact, on September 29, Rajib K Chander, India's ambassador and permanent representative to the UN urged both Bangladesh and Myanmar to agree to a proposal to form a joint working group to identify Rohingya refugees that migrated from the Rakhine province of Myanmar on the basis of principle laid down in an agreement signed in 1993 by Bangladesh and Myanmar to decide on the Rohingyas.

Chander was speaking in the 36th session of the Human Rights Council to consider a draft resolution titled " Extension of the mandate of the independent Internation fact-finding mission on Myanmar".

India's Permanent Representative at Geneva also opined that India was convinced that the only lasting solution to the situation in Rakhine state was socio-economic and infrastructure development in the state and resolution of underlying issues of citizenship and residence in line with the recommendations of the Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan who had been mandated to resolve the long pending Rohingya issue.

While explaining the genesis of the current problem of Rohingyas, Chander had said that initially triggered by a series of terrorist attacks leading to the loss of lives of amongst the security forces as well as the civilian population, the subsequent counter-offensive by security forces had resulted in a large exodus from Rakhine, with many taking refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh.

He clearly stated India's position that security forces should handle the situation with restraint, focussing on the welfare of the people, and take steps to prevent the further exodus of civilians from the state. India's diplomatic push may lead to a permanent solution to the vexed Rohingya crisis, explained a source in the foreign ministry.