Dhaka - Bangladesh says it has agreed a timeframe with Myanmar for repatriating hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who fled an army crackdown last year.

Myanmar has agreed to accept 1,500 Rohingya every week, Bangladesh says, adding that it aims to return all of them to Myanmar within two years. Over 650,000 Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh since violence erupted in Rakhine state in August.


Aid agencies have raised concerns about forcibly repatriating them. A spokesperson from the UN High Commission for Refugees said Myanmar also needed to address the underlying causes of the crisis and that refugees should only return when they feel it is safe for them to back.


According to Reuters, the agreement did not specify when the process would begin but said Myanmar would provide temporary shelter to those returning and later build houses for them. The two sides agreed on a repatriation deal last November and have now met in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw to finalise the details.


Bangladeshi foreign secretary Md Shahidul Haque said that the government had wanted Myanmar to accept 15,000 Rohingya each week - however, they eventually settled on 300 a day - 1,500 per week. Both sides would review the agreement in three months, he added.


Under the current agreement, about 156,000 Rohingya would be repatriated in two years - far short of the 650,000 who have taken recently taken refuge in Bangladesh. Both countries have agreed the repatriation will be voluntary.


And most refugees say they will only return if their safety can be assured, their homes rebuilt, and if they are no longer subjected to official discrimination. None of these conditions is in place.(FA)