Myanmar, Bangladesh meet amid doubts about Rohingya repatriation plan

A Rohingya girl clings to her mother as they wait in a queue for rations at Nayapara refugee camp, some 69 kilometers (43 miles) from in Cox bazar, Bangladesh, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. (AP/Manish Swarup)
Updated 14 January 2018
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Myanmar, Bangladesh meet amid doubts about Rohingya repatriation plan

DHAKA/YANGON: Hamid Hussain, a 71-year-old Rohingya Muslim farmer, first fled Myanmar for Bangladesh in 1992. He went home the next year under a repatriation deal between the two neighbors, only to repeat the journey last September when violence flared once more.
Officials from Myanmar and Bangladesh meet on Monday to discuss how to implement another deal, signed on Nov. 23, on the return of more than 650,000 Rohingya who have escaped an army crackdown since late August. Hussain is one of many who say they fear this settlement may be no more permanent than the last.
“Bangladesh authorities had assured us that Myanmar would give us back our rights, that we would be able to live peacefully,” said Hussain, who now lives in a makeshift refugee camp in southeast Bangladesh.
“We went back but nothing changed. I will go back again only if our rights and safety are guaranteed — forever.”
Buddhist-majority Myanmar has for years denied Rohingya citizenship, freedom of movement and access to many basic services such as health care and education. They are considered illegal immigrants from mainly Muslim Bangladesh.
The authorities have said returnees could apply for citizenship if they can show their forebears have lived in Myanmar. But the latest deal — like the one in 1992 — does not guarantee citizenship and it is unclear how many would qualify.
Monday’s meeting in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw will be the first for a joint working group set up to hammer out the details of the November repatriation agreement. The group is made up of civil servants from both countries.
Two senior Bangladesh officials who are involved in the talks acknowledged that much was left to be resolved and it was unclear when the first refugees could actually return. One of the key issues to be worked out was how the process for jointly verifying the identities of returnees would work, they said.
“Any return is chaotic and complex,” said Shahidul Haque, Bangladesh’s top foreign ministry official who will lead Dhaka’s 14-member team in the talks. “The challenge is to create an environment conducive for their return.”
Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay said returnees would be able to apply for citizenship “after they pass the verification process.”
Zaw Htay added that Myanmar had proposed that a group of 500 Hindus who fled to Bangladesh and have already agreed to be repatriated, alongside 500 Muslims, could form the first batch of returnees.
“The first repatriation is important — we can learn from the experiences, good or bad,” he said.
MYANMAR SETS UP CAMPS
Bangladesh officials said they would begin the process this month by sharing with Myanmar authorities a list of 100,000 Rohingya, picked at random from among registered refugees.
Haque said Myanmar officials would vet the names against their records of residents before the August exodus, and those approved would then be asked if they wanted to go back.
Refugees without documents would be asked to identify streets, villages and other landmarks near their former homes as proof of their right to return, said Haque.
A Myanmar agency set up to oversee repatriation said in a statement on Thursday that two temporary “repatriation and assessment camps” and one other site to accommodate returnees had been set up. Myint Kyaing, permanent secretary at Myanmar’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population, told Reuters earlier this month Myanmar would be ready to begin processing least 150 people a day through each of the two camps by Jan. 23.
As well as checking their credentials as residents of Myanmar, he said, authorities would check returnees against lists of suspected “terrorists.”
Myint Kyaing declined to comment on how long the repatriation would take but conceded the process after the 1992 agreement had taken more than 10 years.
United Nations agencies working in the camps clustered around Cox’s Bazar, in southeastern Bangladesh, have voiced skepticism about the resettlement plans.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration said their offers to help with the process have not been taken up by the two countries.
“Further measures are needed to ensure safe, voluntary and sustainable repatriation of refugees to their places of origin and to address the underlying root causes of the crisis,” said Caroline Gluck, a spokeswoman for the UNHCR in Cox’s Bazar.
The UNHCR says refugees it has surveyed want guarantees that international agencies will be involved in overseeing the process and more information about the security situation in their home areas.

WHO WILL GO? WHO WILL PAY?
While many Rohingya say they want to go back to Myanmar, most of the more than a dozen who spoke to Reuters said they were scared to do so now.
“I am not going back. No one’s going back,” said Hafizulla, a 37-year-old Rohingya man. “We are scared to go back without any UN intervention. They can accuse us later, they can arrest us. They may accuse us of helping the militants.”
The military offensive the refugees fled, which was prompted by Rohingya insurgent attacks on police and army posts, has been described by the United States and UN as ethnic cleansing. Myanmar rejects that, saying troops did not target civilians.
“You can have all the agreements in the world, and set up all the reception centers and everything, but it won’t make a difference unless the conditions in Myanmar are such that people feel confident that they can go back and live in peace, and have equal rights,” said a Western diplomat in Dhaka.
The second Bangladesh official, Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner Mohammed Abul Kalam, said the “Rohingyas’ reluctance to go back” was an issue that needed to be addressed.
He said the repatriation process would cost “millions of dollars” but funding details had not yet been agreed and were not expected to be discussed at Monday’s meeting.
Japan, one of Myanmar’s biggest aid donors, said on Friday it was giving an emergency grant of around $3 million to help with the return of the Rohingya.


‘It wasn’t just about me’: Imam honored for unity efforts after UK race riots

Updated 53 min 32 sec ago
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‘It wasn’t just about me’: Imam honored for unity efforts after UK race riots

  • Three children were killed, and 10 others — eight of whom were children — were injured in an attack in Southport
  • In days following attack, crowds gathered to demonstrate outside Liverpool mosque

LONDON: A Muslim leader in the UK has been recognized for his efforts to foster unity after embracing protesters outside Liverpool’s Abdullah Quilliam Mosque in the wake of a knife attack in the northern English town of Southport in July.

Three children were killed, and 10 others — eight of whom were children — were injured in the attack.

Axel Rudakubana was detained and charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder, and possession of a bladed article.

In the days following the attack, crowds gathered to demonstrate outside the mosque in Liverpool after misinformation was spread online about the knife attack suspect.

Imam Adam Kelwick described how he approached protesters outside the mosque once tensions had eased, offering food, handshakes, and conversations.

Photographs of the peaceful exchanges, which included sharing food and even hugs, went viral, symbolizing a moment of reconciliation.

After receiving the Most Impactful Imam accolade at the British Beacon Mosque Awards, Kelwick said: “It wasn’t just about me. I’m dedicating this award to the people of Liverpool, who really came together during difficult times.”

He added: “Some of the most vocal protesters, after everyone else had gone, came inside the mosque for a little tour.”

The imam praised Liverpool’s residents for their unity.

“For those who knew better than to blame a whole religion for the evil actions of one person, for those who came to defend our mosque, and even for those who protested but later reflected and opened their hearts,” he said.

Kelwick, also a humanitarian aid worker and long-time volunteer, expressed gratitude for the award, which recognizes the contributions of mosques and leaders across the UK.


India mosque survey sparks clashes, two dead

Armed police personnel stand guard following religious violence near the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal on November 24, 2024. AFP
Updated 24 November 2024
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India mosque survey sparks clashes, two dead

  • Hindu nationalist activists were emboldened earlier this year when Modi inaugurated a grand new Hindu temple in Ayodhya, built on grounds once home to Babri mosque

LUCKNOW: Indian Muslim protesters clashed with police Sunday with at least two people killed in riots sparked by a survey investigating if a 17th-century mosque was built on a Hindu temple.
“Two persons were confirmed dead,” Pawan Kumar, a police officer in Sambhal in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, told AFP, adding that 16 police officers were “seriously injured” during the clashes.
The Press Trust of India news agency quoted officials saying three people had died.
Hindu activist groups have laid claim to several mosques they say were built over Hindu temples during the Muslim Mughal empire centuries ago.
Street battles broke out when a team of surveyors entered the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal on orders from a local court, after a petition from a Hindu priest claiming it was built on the site of a Hindu temple.
Protesters on Sunday hurled rocks at police, who fired tear gas canisters to clear the crowd.
Hindu nationalist activists were emboldened earlier this year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a grand new Hindu temple in the northern city of Ayodhya, built on grounds once home to the centuries-old Babri mosque.
That mosque was torn down in 1992 in a campaign spearheaded by members of Modi’s party, sparking sectarian riots that killed 2,000 people nationwide, most of them Muslims.
Some Hindu campaigners see an ideological patron in Modi.
Calls for India to more closely align the country’s officially secular political system with its majority Hindu faith have rapidly grown louder since Modi was swept to office in 2014, making the country’s roughly 210-million-strong Muslim minority increasingly anxious about their future.


Man in critical condition after stabbing on London’s Westminster Bridge

Updated 24 November 2024
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Man in critical condition after stabbing on London’s Westminster Bridge

  • Authorities have said that the incident is not being treated as terrorism-related

LONDON: A man is in critical condition after being stabbed during a reported fight on Westminster Bridge in central London, the Metropolitan Police confirmed on Sunday.

Emergency services, including the London Ambulance Service and an air ambulance, were called to the scene at about 10:45 UK time and an injured man was rushed to hospital for treatment.

A London London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called today (Sunday) at 10.46 a.m. to reports of an incident on Westminster Bridge, SW1.

“We sent a number of resources including ambulance crews, an advanced paramedic, an incident response officer and London’s air ambulance.

“We treated a man at the scene before taking him to hospital,” they added.

Three individuals have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, while a fourth has been detained for affray, the BBC reported.

Two of the arrested suspects sustained minor facial injuries and were also taken to hospital, according to police.

Authorities have said that the incident is not being treated as terrorism-related.

In March 2017, Briton Khalid Masood drove a car into pedestrians who were walking on the pavement along Westminster Bridge and Bridge Street, injuring more than 50 people, four of them fatally, before killing an unarmed police officer in the grounds of the Palace of Westminster.

He was then shot by an armed police officer, and died at the scene.


Bangladesh prepares to send trained nurses to Saudi Arabia in 2025

Updated 24 November 2024
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Bangladesh prepares to send trained nurses to Saudi Arabia in 2025

  • Authorities are preparing to fulfill a Saudi request for 150 Bangladeshi nurses
  • Migration of skilled Bangladeshi workers has been on the rise this year, government data shows

DHAKA: Bangladesh is preparing to send the first batch of trained nurses to Saudi Arabia by early next year, the country’s state-owned recruiting agency told Arab News on Sunday.

Bangladeshi nationals make up the largest group of expatriates in Saudi Arabia, with nearly 3 million working and residing in the Kingdom. But only a few dozen clinicians are among the group, according to Bangladesh Medical Association data.

In 2022, the two countries signed an agreement on the recruitment of health workers, targeting the large numbers of certified doctors, nurses and medics from Bangladesh’s more than 100 medical colleges.

Bangladeshi authorities are now preparing a batch of over 100 nurses to send to Saudi Arabia, said the Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Ltd., a recruitment agency under the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.

“We got a request to send 150 nurses to the Kingdom … If everything goes alright, we can expect the first batch to (fly out) to the Kingdom early next year,” BOESL Executive Director Shawkat Ali said.

In Saudi Arabia, nurses must undergo the Saudi Prometric Exam in order to practice in the Kingdom. Though Bangladesh has many nursing school graduates, most do not have the required Prometric certifications, he added.

“Our nurses are very skilled and industrious … We have received huge queries for the nurses. But here they need to have the Prometric certification. If we can prepare them in line with the Saudi requirements, it will open new opportunities for our nurses.”

Only around 2 percent of Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom are skilled professionals, but the number has been on the rise since the beginning of the year, according to data from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training.

Though most Bangladeshi migrant workers are seeking employment in Saudi Arabia’s giga-projects under its Vision 2030 transformation plan, there has also been a growing demand for health workers from the South Asian nation.

“For our economy, exporting trained nurses to the Kingdom is a big opportunity. We are mostly an import-dependent country, so we need huge amounts of dollars to meet the import bills,” Ali said.

“If we can export a significant number of trained medical staffers, they would be able to send back more remittances.”


Ukraine shows fragments of new Russian missile after ‘Oreshnik’ strike

Updated 24 November 2024
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Ukraine shows fragments of new Russian missile after ‘Oreshnik’ strike

  • Russia on Thursday carried out a strike on the city of Dnipro last week
  • Use of IRBM in response to Ukraine’s firing US ATACMS and UK Storm Shadow missiles

UNDISCLOSED, Ukraine: Ukraine on Sunday showed journalists fragments of the Russian missile used to strike the city of Dnipro last week, after Moscow said it had tested its new Oreshnik ballistic missile.
Russia on Thursday carried out a strike on the city which President Vladimir Putin said was a test of its new Oreshnik hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).
Ukraine’s SBU security service displayed metal fragments, ranging from bulky to tiny, on fake grass in front of camouflage netting at an undisclosed location Sunday, AFP journalists saw.
The SBU did not name the missile used but said it was a type they had not seen before.
Oleg, one of its investigators, told journalists that “this is the first time the debris of such a missile has been found on the territory of Ukraine.
“This item had not been documented by security investigators before,” he added.
Oleg said that investigators are examining the fragments and will later “provide answers” on the characteristics of the missile.
He said that the missile was ballistic and had caused damage to civilian and “other infrastructure” in Dnipro.
In a televised address Thursday, Putin said Russia used the IRBM in response to Ukraine’s firing US ATACMS and UK Storm Shadow missiles into Russian territory, after the Kyiv allies lifted a ban on it using long-range weaponry to fire into Russia.
Putin said the missile flies at 10 times the speed of sound and cannot be intercepted by air defenses.
The president said it hit a defense industry production facility in Dnipro “which still produces missile equipment and other weapons.”
A Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman was heard answering a phone call about a strike on Yuzhmash during a press briefing. Yuzhmash is the Russian name of an aerospace manufacturer in Dnipro now called Pivdenmash.
Neither Kyiv nor Moscow has confirmed whether this was the target.
Putin has promised more combat testing of the Oreshnik missile and said it will go into serial production.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called the strike “the latest bout of Russian madness” and appealed for updated air-defense systems to meet the new threat.
The head of Ukraine’s military intelligence has said Kyiv knew several prototypes of the missile had been produced before it was fired.