Myanmar visit to Bangladesh's Rohingya camps leaves doubts, fears

Repatriation outlook 'very vague' after delegation verifies 429 of about 1m refugees

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Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar after a fire in 2021: Efforts to arrange repatriation from Bangladesh to Myanmar appear to be going nowhere. © Reuters

FAISAL MAHMUD, Contributing writer

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh -- A weeklong visit by a delegation from Myanmar to Bangladesh's Rohingya refugee camps ended Wednesday with verification and registration of a few hundred people, inconclusive bilateral talks with Bangladeshi officials, and crucial unanswered questions about repatriation.

Both governments had hailed the trip as "significant," as it was the first such mission since 2019 intended to kick-start the process of taking back the refugees. But experts were skeptical of the outlook, while some camp residents expressed disappointment with the visit amid persistent fear of returning to a regime accused of atrocities.

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