International agencies must be allowed to monitor the newly agreed-on repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims from Bangladesh to the homes they fled in Myanmar, rights groups said on Friday.
The two governments signed a pact late Thursday settling terms for the repatriation process. They aim to start the return of Rohingya in two months from the sprawling refugee camps that have mushroomed in the Cox's Bazar region of Bangladesh over the past three months.
Bill Frelick, director of refugee rights at Human Rights Watch, said, "The idea that Burma will now welcome them back to their smoldering villages with open arms is laughable," using the former name for Myanmar. "Instead of signing on to a public relations stunt, the international community should make it clear that there can be no returns without international monitors to ensure security, an end to the idea of putting returnees in camps, the return of land and the rebuilding of destroyed homes and villages."