Myanmar is making final preparations to take back the first batch of Rohingya Muslims who fled conflict in the troubled Rakhine State, State media said on Saturday, despite growing doubts about the plan among refugees and in the UN.
Rakhine State Chief Minister Nyi Pu “insisted on completion of the finishing touches on buildings, medical clinics and sanitation infrastructures” during a visit to repatriation camps in the State on Friday, the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.
It published a photo of Mr. Pu’s delegation standing by a long, wooden house for the returnees at the camp near the town of Maungtaw. A wire-mesh fence topped by barbed wire appears in the background of the photo. Myanmar will start receiving Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh at two reception centres and the temporary camp near Maungtaw starting Tuesday and continuing over the next two years, under an agreement the two countries signed this week.
However, Rohingya Muslim insurgents said on Saturday that the repatriation plan was “not acceptable” and “the Burmese [Myanmarese] terrorist government is deceitfully and crookedly offering Rohingya refugees to settle down in so-called temporary camps”.
Government spokesman Zaw Htay did not respond to requests for comment on their statement.
