Bangladesh looks to start repatriating the Rohingya refugees this year as Myanmar returned to the negotiating table over the issue last week.
This was the first formal meeting between the two sides since the military took power in Myanmar on 01 February 2021.
Asked about the development, foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen said both sides discussed their concerns regarding the repatriation at the last technical committee-level meeting.
Terming the progress "very positive", he said the technical committees discussed the verification issue. Dhaka expressed concern over the slow and complicated process of the verification.
"We've seen that four persons of a family were verified but three were not. In this case, the family won't agree to go back leaving part of the family here."
"They [Myanmar side] said this happened as they didn't get data about all the family members," Mr Masud cited.
Myanmar also raised some practical problems in the meeting.
They admitted that many Rohingya villages were destroyed and now they are finding new places for rehousing the Rohingya who were from those villages.
On the possibility of sending back the Rohingya, Mr Masud said repatriation can be started on a limited scale by this year subject to addressing these issues.
But he cited that both sides should be serious and there should be a political will. "From our side, we are very serious."
"It is not possible to send back all the 1.0-million people within a short time. The process will take time even after repatriation begins," the secretary said.
He noted that the Myanmar side also showed interest in starting the Rohingya repatriation.
It is learnt that China, who has been facilitating the repatriation talks between Bangladesh and Myanmar, was also instrumental in resuming the stalled negotiations.
The recent meeting was also the outcome of their facilitation, according to foreign ministry high-ups.
Officials said the technical committees would meet soon and the bilateral joint working group on repatriation would decide the next course of action based on their recommendations.
Bangladesh would start a motivational campaign at Rohingya camps once the situation in Rakhine becomes conducive, officials told the FE.
Mr Masud said, "Their [Rohingya] safety is a key precondition for repatriation. So, we have to see whether their return to their homeland in Rakhine will be safe or not."
