Myanmar Says More Than 300,000 Rohingya in Bangladesh Verified for Potential Repatriation

Myanmar's military-backed government has announced that more than 300,000 Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh have been verified as former residents of Rakhine State and could be repatriated once security conditions improve.

The announcement was made by Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday as the Rohingya crisis entered its ninth year.

In a statement, the ministry said it had verified the identities of 426,545 people from a list of 828,824 Rohingya submitted by Bangladesh as of the end of July. Of those, 308,797 were confirmed to be former residents of Rakhine State.

Myanmar said it was unable to verify 113,507 individuals included on the list, while 4,241 people were alleged by the authorities to have been involved in what it described as "terrorist activities."

The ministry said Myanmar would continue working with Bangladesh to facilitate the return of the verified former residents once the security situation in Rakhine State becomes stable.

More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh in August 2017 after Myanmar's military launched a sweeping crackdown following attacks by Rohingya militants on security posts in Rakhine State. Hundreds of thousands had already sought refuge in Bangladesh during earlier waves of violence.

The 2017 military operation drew widespread international condemnation, with the United Nations and several governments accusing Myanmar of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Rohingya. Myanmar has consistently rejected those allegations.

Myanmar also refuses to recognize the Rohingya as one of the country's 135 officially recognized ethnic groups, referring to them instead as "Bengalis" and claiming they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed in 2018 on a framework to repatriate Rohingya refugees within two years. However, the plan stalled due to deteriorating conditions inside Myanmar.

The situation became even more complicated after Myanmar's military seized power in a 2021 coup, triggering nationwide armed conflict and further diminishing prospects for the safe and voluntary return of refugees.

Since 2023, intense fighting between Myanmar's military and the Arakan Army in Rakhine State has displaced additional civilians, forcing more Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh and other neighboring countries. Large parts of Rakhine are now under the control of the Arakan Army.

Nearly one million Rohingya continue to live in overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh, where humanitarian conditions remain difficult. Declining international aid and the absence of a safe environment for repatriation have prompted many refugees to undertake dangerous sea journeys in an attempt to reach Malaysia and Indonesia.

In late July, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Myanmar had agreed to receive 5,000 Rohingya currently in Malaysia under a repatriation program. However, Myanmar Foreign Ministry official Han Win Aung later clarified that the program was intended for verified Myanmar nationals held in Malaysian detention centers and denied that it involved the return of Rohingya refugees.

While Myanmar's latest announcement regarding the verification of more than 308,000 Rohingya in Bangladesh has been viewed as a significant development, key questions remain unresolved, including when repatriation could begin, how it would be carried out, and whether returnees would be guaranteed security, citizenship, and fundamental rights.