Cox’s Bazar: Bangladesh and Myanmar officials are now in discussion over the repatriation of over 6,500 Rohingyas living in no-man’s land near Tambru on Bangladesh-Myanmar border.

The meeting began at 10:00am on Tuesday on the zero line near Tombru of Bangladesh-Myanmar border.

Divisional Commissioner Abdul Mannan, Relief and Refugee Repatriation Commissioner Mohammad Abul Kalam are attending the meeting as part of 12-member Bangladesh team.

The team will return around 3:00pm, RRRC Abul Kalam told UNB.

Bangladesh has handed over a list of 1,673 Rohingya families (8,032 individuals) to Myanmar to start the first phase of repatriation of the displaced people to their homeland in Rakhine state.

‘The Myanmar side has cordially accepted the list,’ said Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Friday after over three hours of meeting with his Myanmar counterpart at the Secretariat in Dhaka.

He had said Myanmar would scrutinise the list and names and get back to Bangladesh soon.

He had said there was no specific timeframe to start the repatriation expressing the hope that it would start soon.

‘[A congenial] environment needs to be created [in Rakhine] to make their return sustainable. No specific date was

provided for repatriation but they showed sincerity and are taking preparations to take their nationals back,’ the minister had said.