Some 500 more Rohingyas arrived in Bangladesh over the last few days keeping the total number of new arrivals at 655,500 since August 25, 2017, says the UN Migration Agency on Tuesday.

The IOM Needs and Population Monitoring Report said that there have been 628 new arrivals since the weekly situation report on December 17.

The next full situation report will be issued on January 14.

Violence in Rakhine State which began on August 25, 2017 has driven an estimated 655,500 Rohingyas across the border into Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

Bangladesh and Myanmar want to start repatriation of Rohingyas this month and a Joint Working Group (JWG) has already been formed in this regard.

The first meeting of the JWG will be held sometime in January in Myanmar capital.

Bangladesh said they are on track in terms of timeframe mentioned in the bilateral document signed between Bangladesh and Myanmar on November 23.

‘We’re all upbeat. We’re confident and we’re hopeful. We’re bilaterally engaged (with Myanmar),’ said State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam describing the international support that Bangladesh gained on the issue.

Quoting Myanmar Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Dr Win Myat Aye, Myanmar media reported that they will start repatriation of those families who fled from Rakhine State to Bangladesh on January 22.

Win Myat Aye said a group of 450 Hindu refugees will be allowed back across the border to Burma on January 22 as the first step of the repatriation process.

A refugee camp has been set up at Taungpyoleiwei in northwestern Rakhine State for those returning overland from

Bangladesh, while a second camp has been erected in Ngakhuya, Maungdaw Township, for those returning by sea or waterways.