Daw Aye Aye Thein Director, Department of Immigration, Ministry of Immigration and Population

I am going to explain the current implementation status of the Ministry of Immigration and Population regarding the repatriation of displaced persons from Rakhine State. Due to the incidents that occurred in northern Rakhine State in 2016 and 2017, approximately 500,000 residents from that area fled to neighbouring Bangladesh of their own volition. To facilitate the systematic verification and repatriation process, the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh signed a bilateral agreement on 23 November 2017.

In accordance with the repatriation agreements between Myanmar and Bangladesh, five fundamental principles of eligibility were established as the criteria for the return process. The criteria are as follows: those wishing to return must be individuals who genuinely resided in Myanmar. The returnees must be individuals who wish to return to Myanmar voluntarily. For separated family members, remaining family members, and orphans, a certification of authenticity from a Bangladesh court must be provided. Children born in the neighbouring country must be the offspring of parents who can be verified as former residents of Myanmar. For children born during the conflict, a certification of authenticity from a Bangladesh court must be provided.

 In order to implement the repatriation process in accordance with these criteria, officials from Myanmar and Bangladesh signed the ‘Physical Arrangement’ plan on 15 January 2018.

Furthermore, the Joint Working Group (JWG) for the repatriation process, led by officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of both Myanmar and Bangladesh, was established in November 2018. Between 2018 and 2022, a total of five JWG meetings were held alternately in Myanmar and Bangladesh to conduct discussions.

In accordance with the repatriation agreement between Myanmar and Bangladesh, the Bangladesh side sent the lists of over 800,000 displaced persons in six separate batches between 2018 and 2021 to verify those eligible under the repatriation criteria.

To verify whether the lists of over 800,000 displaced persons sent by Bangladesh were indeed former residents of Myanmar, the department developed a Civil Registration software. Using this software, our staff performed cross-verification by inputting data from the 2016 household lists, which include family photos and records, collected by the department in northern Rakhine State.

As of 16 January 2026, we have completed the cross-verification of over 300,000 individuals listed in the verification forms. The verified data for these individuals has already been transmitted to the Bangladesh side through diplomatic channels.

Among the verified residents with confirmed proof of residency, the Bangladesh side announced they would return a first batch of over 2,000 people in November 2018, and a second batch of over 3,000 people in August 2019. Although Myanmar made all necessary arrangements to receive them by opening two repatriation centres, Bangladesh failed to send them back on both occasions.

Moreover, we have arranged and implemented the repatriation process under a ‘Pilot Project’ for displaced persons from Rakhine State. Based on the discussions held between officials of both countries in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in February 2020, an agreement was reached for the initial repatriation of 840 displaced persons.

From among them, 711 individuals who were verified to have displaced as entire families were approved for repatriation under the Pilot Project. In order to accept the 711 individuals along with their related family members simultaneously, and to implement in accordance with the decisions made during the fifth JWG meeting, an ad-hoc verification team led by the Head of the Rakhine State Immigration Department conducted its first on-site verification visit to Teknaf, Bangladesh, in March 2023. Based on those interviews, 465 related family members were verified. Together with the 711 individuals previously cleared, a total of 1,176 individuals were approved for repatriation.

On 5 May 2023, Myanmar officials hosted and presented detailed briefings for a ‘Go and See Visit’ consisting of seven officials from Bangladesh and 20 representatives of the displaced persons camps. They were escorted to observe the specific villages designated for the resettlement of returnees. On 30 June 2023, in accordance with the decisions made under the ‘New Bilateral Initiative’ co-sponsored by both countries, a total of 2,807 individuals were approved for repatriation under the Pilot Project. This total includes 1,766 individuals who were verified as entire families previously residing in northern Maungdaw with no criminal records, alongside 1,041 individuals out of the 1,176 previously cleared by the first on-site verification team. In order to facilitate the simultaneous return of the 2,807 individuals along with their related family members, a Myanmar verification team and ‘Go and Talk’ members travelled to Teknaf, Bangladesh, for a second mission to conduct further interviews in October 2023. Based on the results of the second verification mission, it was officially decided and approved to repatriate a total of 2,933 verified individuals.

Under the Pilot Project, twenty villages have been designated for the resettlement of the 2,933 approved returnees. The process was organized through the opening of two reception centres, Ngakhuya and Taungpyoletwe, with a planned capacity to verify and accept 250 individuals per week at each centre, totalling 500 returnees per week. There were plans for the verified returnees to temporarily settle at the Hlapoekaung Transit Centre before moving them to the 20 designated villages. Furthermore, arrangements were made to collaborate with relevant ministries to provide necessary support for their livelihoods and basic needs, including food, clothing, and shelter.

As UNDP and UNHCR offered to provide support for the repatriation process of displaced persons from Rakhine State, a Tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Ministry of Immigration and Population, UNDP, and UNHCR on 6 June 2018. UNDP and UNHCR have provided support for regional development projects in northern Rakhine State, including livelihood programmes, basic infrastructure, access to water, the repair of roads and bridges, and assistance in education, healthcare, and social services. At present, the Ministry of Immigration and Population continues to renew the MOU with UNDP and UNHCR on an annual basis to ensure the ongoing implementation of regional development projects, contingent upon the local security situation.

Despite Myanmar’s comprehensive preparations and readiness to facilitate the repatriation process, there has been no return of displaced persons from the Bangladesh side to date.

Nevertheless, I would like to state that Myanmar remains fully prepared to facilitate a smooth and successful repatriation process for displaced persons from northern Rakhine State, should they choose to return of their own free will.

My name is Thida Myint. My Muslim name is Junila. I am from Khaungdukka Village, and I have three children. Government departmental officials come here for vaccinations, and others provide general medical injections and treatment. If we have emergency cases, we have to go to Thetkaepyin Hospital.

 The village elders and local community leaders have collaborated to establish a guard plan by household. For example, ten houses will be on security duty today, another ten houses tomorrow, and so on, following a scheduled and organized security arrangement. We mainly do farming. In our village, there are shops and also many daily casual labourers. There is nothing special beyond that. There are no restrictions at all. We can travel freely and smoothly.

There are no restrictions at all. Access to healthcare services is on a regular basis, and if there are many patients and the medicines are not sufficient, we can go to Thetkaepyin Hospital and receive treatment for free. Everything is free, and that is how it is arranged. In Khaungdukka Village, we have a post-primary school. Once children finish post-primary school, they have to attend the Thetkaepyin High School. The nearest school to us is Thetkaepyin School, so we go there. Education is completely free. The government has arranged everything.

We applied for our citizenship scrutiny cards and have already received them. We went to the Immigration Department office ourselves and applied in person. Since we had all the required documents, everything was in order. We received it very quickly. We also had the right to vote this year. Our names were registered in the Thae Chaung area, so we went there to vote. Everyone was able to vote freely.

We also saw that some people who were not in voter lists still went happily just to observe the voting process. Everything was calm and peaceful.

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