PanOrient News | Repatriation on Myanmar border stalled

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Repatriation on Myanmar border stalled

Saturday, December 6, 2025

PanOrient News

YANGON (Myanmar). 6 December 2025: The repatriation process on the border of Myanmar and Bangladesh is currently stalled due to instability and conflicts in Rakhine State, informed sources in Myanmar told PanOrientNews.

“Even when Rakhine State was peaceful, the repatriation process was not functioning properly,” one source said. “Some of those who came to Myanmar did not come back through the official Bangladeshi channel but unofficially through their own local contacts and reported to the Myanmar authorities when arriving on the Myanmar side." So far, no single person has returned through official channels

The source added that those who came back to the Myanmar side said they were discouraged from doing so, as well as threatened not to go back to Myanmar. Also, each individual in the refugee camps were supposed to receive an allowance of $16 per day, but according to the returnees they received only $6 per day, with $10 disappearing somewhere.

Western media claimed that over 1 million people have fled Myanmar, while the official Bangladesh figure is more than 800,000. According to Myanmar's 2014 census, 1.1 million Bengalis were residing in Rakhine State. After the 2017 exodus of people fleeing into Bangladesh, the number of Muslims still residing in Rakhine State was more than 550,000.

Out of the 800,000 names provided by the Bangladeshi authorities to Myanmar, over 500,000 names have been already checked and only around 300,000 can be verified. These verified persons’ names have been officially sent back to the Bangladesh side and are ready to be received by the Myanmar side. But not a single person has been sent back to the repatriation centers.

Sources claimed that the UNHCR itself is “creating excuses” not to send these refugees back. It has been said that whenever the refugees are about to be sent back under the agreement of the UN, Myanmar and Bangladesh, a delegation from the United States comprising senators and congressmen visit the refugee camps and the repatriation process suddenly becomes stalled.

Arab sources in Yangon said the Bangladesh authorities and NGOs have been “enjoying” the donations received from various countries and institutions for these displaced persons and want to prolong or derail the repatriation process as much as possible.

“At the same time, the United States and United Kingdom have their own agendas and are creating instability in Rakhine State using the AA and ARSA terrorist groups,” the source stated. “They have written a script and have spread their choice of narrative to the world through Western media.”

Due to this negative narrative, Myanmar has been taken to the International Court of Justice by Gambia. Other sources say the US and UK are also pushing for this behind the scenes.

It is believed that Myanmar and Gambia will make their cases at the ICJ in January ahead of the court’s final verdict.

International law experts said that if Gambia fails to submit its final plea, then the case will be closed. If that happens, the so-called ethnic cleansing issue will be over, but the repatriation of those eligible to return will continue, something that is likely to make the US and UK, George Soros and all those profiting from this issue very unhappy. (PanOrient News)