Junta announces pilot programme to accept 1,000 Rohingya refugees in Myanmar

Myanmar’s military regime has agreed to accept the return of around 1,000 Rohingya refugees in a pilot repatriation program, according to a spokesman for the junta. The resettlement is expected to begin by mid-April, and the Myanmar side is currently checking lists of potential returnees. The repatriation program was brokered by China and partly facilitated by the United Nations, with a delegation of 17 officials from Myanmar’s military regime meeting with around 480 refugees over the past week to assess them for potential return. Most of the Rohingya refugees currently reside in Bangladesh, having fled Myanmar following a 2017 military crackdown that is now subject to a UN genocide investigation.