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What does the future hold for the Rohingya?

What’s preventing the Rohingya from returning to Myanmar?

One year ago this week, the government of Myanmar signed an understanding with the United Nations that would pave the way for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees to return home from camps in southern Bangladesh. But the UN says, no family has volunteered to return. Ever since the mass exodus of the Rohingya began in August 2017, the Burmese government and the military have received universal condemnation for their failure to stop the violence. The government, led by the Nobel Laureate Aung Saan Suu Kyi, says that the Rohingya are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and have been involved in attacks against the Burmese military. But in recent months the government has been cooperating with aid agencies to encourage the refugees to return. Does that indicate a change of heart? And if so, should the West reward Myanmar by ending its diplomatic isolation? And what does this crisis say about Myanmar’s democratic transition? Join Ritula Shah and guests as they explore what’s holding back the return of Rohingya to Myanmar.

Available now

53 minutes

Last on

Fri 7 Jun 2019 23:06GMT

Contributors

Laetitia van den Assum - former Dutch ambassador to Myanmar

Kyaw Win - Executive Director, Burma Human Rights Network

Ye Htut - former presidential spokesman and minister of information of Myanmar

Also featuring:

Poppy McPherson - Reuters journalist in Myanmar

Shahriar Alam - State Minister of Foreign Affairs in Bangladesh

Thein Tun Oo - Theninga Institute, a defence strategy institute in Myanmar

Nina Tavakoli - international lawyer

Picture

Rohingya refugees, who crossed the border from MyanmarΒ on their way to a refugee near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Credit: Reuters / Zohra Bensemra.

Broadcasts

  • Fri 7 Jun 2019 08:06GMT
  • Fri 7 Jun 2019 23:06GMT

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