Myanmar, Bangladesh set up working group for Rohingya return

FILE: Displaced Rohingya people in Rakhine State (8280610831) (cropped) (Photo By Foreign and Commonwealth Office – Flickr, OGL)

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Myanmar and Bangladesh have formed a joint working group to oversee the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, but their return is likely to be delayed.

The two countries agreed to set up a 30-member working group during a four-hour meeting Tuesday in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital.

More than 630,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since Myanmar’s military launched a crackdown on them in August.

Their repatriation was due to start around Jan. 21 under an agreement reached last month between the two countries, but a Bangladesh foreign ministry official who attended Tuesday’s meeting said it would be delayed by a couple of weeks or so.

Human rights groups warn that the Rohingya may face continued violence if they are sent back.