Jamaat for Independent Arakan State for Rohingyas

Jamaat-e-Islami on Sunday urged the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to play a crucial role in creating an independent Arakan State in the Rakhine region for the Rohingyas.  

The request was made in a meeting between a three-member delegation from the Chinese Communist Party and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami at Hotel Westin in Dhaka.

"China can play a crucial role here as the country shares strong ties with Myanmar. CPC assures Jamaat that it will present this proposal to the Chinese government and they will take attempts for relevant steps," said Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher while briefing reporters after the meeting. 

The delegation from Jamaat-e-Islami was led by its Deputy Ameer and former member of parliament Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher. 

Other members in the delegation were - Assistant Secretary Generals Maulana Rafiqul Islam Khan and Advocate Ehsanul Mahbub Zubair, Central Executive Committee member and Secretary of the Central Propaganda and Media Department Advocate Matiur Rahman Akand, Central Executive Committee member and Ameer of Dhaka Metropolitan South Noorul Islam Bulbul, and Ameer of Dhaka Metropolitan North Selim Uddin.  

On April 4, the interim government's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus said Myanmar has identified 180,000 members of the Rohingya living in Bangladesh as "eligible" for repatriation.

"Myanmar authorities have confirmed to Bangladesh that out of a list of 800,000 Rohingyas sheltered in Bangladesh, they have identified 180,000 Rohingyas eligible for return to Myanmar," said the chief adviser.

Yunus made the statement on X during his trip to Thailand, where he attended the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit in Bangkok.

Burmese military coup leader Min Aung Hlaing also attended the summit.

The number of identified Rohingya refugees "eligible" for return was disclosed to Yunus's advisor Khalilur Rahman by U Than Shew, the foreign minister of Myanmar.

Myanmar authorities have informed that the "verification of the remaining 550,000 Rohingya on the original list will be undertaken on an expeditious basis," according to the CA office.

Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.3 million Rohingya refugees, who fled Myanmar in the face of a military crackdown in 2017, in Cox's Bazar.