Myanmar Identifys 180,000 Rohingya Refugees Fulfill Repatriation Requirements

JAKARTA - Myanmar has identified 180,000 Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh as "qualified" for repatriation, the interim government leader said in a statement on Friday.

"Myanmar authorities have confirmed Bangladesh that of the list of 800,000 Rohingya refugees sheltering in the country, 180,000 of them are eligible to return to Myanmar," said Muhammad Yunus, leader of Bangladesh' interim government, as quoted by Antara.

Yunus made the statement on X ahead of his trip to Thailand, to attend the Bay Bengal Initiative Summit for Technical Cooperation and Multi-Sectoral Economy (BIMSTEC) in Bangkok, which was also attended by Myanmar military coup leader Min Aung Hlaing.

The number of Rohingya members identified "qualified" to be re-disclosed on Friday to Yunus' adviser, Khalilur Rahman by U Than Shew, Myanmar's Foreign Minister, in Bangkok.

Myanmar authorities have informed that "the remaining 550,000 Rohingya verification on the original list will be carried out quickly," according to Yunus' office.

Last November, prosecutors of the International Criminal Court (ICC) sought an arrest warrant against Min Aung for the 2017 brutal crackdown that forced around 750,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh to avoid what rights groups described as genocide by the Myanmar military.

Rohingya is a native of Rakhine State in Myanmar, but the successive regime in Southeast Asian countries with the Buddhist majority has denied the citizenship of their country among other rights.

Currently, Bangladesh has 1.3 million Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar in 2017 in Cox's Bazar.