As foreseen, the deadline for the beginning of the repatriation of Rohingyas specified in the deal signed between Bangladesh and Myanmar on November 23 in Naypyitaw is set to miss due to lack of preparations from both sides, government sources concerned told The Independent yesterday.

According to the deal signed between Foreign Minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali and a minister attached with Myanmar’s de facto leader state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s office, the repatriation was supposed to begin within two months which ends today (January 22).

The physical arrangements to begin repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas, who had to cross into Cox’s Bazar to escape from the unfrequented brutalities by the Myanmar security forces, local Buddhist mobs and people from other ethnic groups in Rakhine were finalised on January 16 in Naypyitaw in the first meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) formed in Dhaka on December 19.

The arrangements will deal with the repatriation of over 6.55 lakh Rohingyas who have arrived since August 25, last year and over 80,000 who had crossed the border after October, 2016. It’s not yet clear what will happen to another 3.5 to 4 lakh Rohingyas, who have been living in the country for decades.

“We have started the process of repatriation, but we will have to wait bit longer for the physical repatriation,” Refugee, Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) Abul Kalam, a member of JWG based in Cox’s Bazar, told The Independent yesterday.

“We are trying to work hard to complete the ground preparations for the physical repatriation as soon as possible,” he said.

“A technical team, headed by me, is working to put in place a system to begin the repatriation systematically,” said Kalam. Bangladesh has asked the Myanmar side to begin the repatriation with about 6,500 Rohingyas now staying along no mans-land of the border, he said.

“No, we cannot commence the repatriation by today as set in the arrangement signed on November 23,” said a senior government official, closely involved with the process.

“There are some ground works to be finished before we can start the repatriation,” he said.

When his attention was drawn to the Myanmar statement that the repatriation will begin on January 23, the official said, “Please, try to ask them.”

Another senior official said that when the two ministers signed the deal on November 23 they, perhaps, knew that it will not be possible to begin by two months given the complexities of the problem.

“The most important thing is the beginning and completion of the repatriation within two years as specified in the physical arrangements,” he said.

The officials said that it does not matter if the repatriation begins few days later as the problem has been in existence for a long time.

The process has begun, which is the most important aspect, they said, hoping that the country would wait that long for the repatriation to take place.

To a question, the officials would not provide any specific date for the beginning of the repatriation. Individuals concerned including State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam have been saying since the signing of the agreement that the repatriation might miss the two-month deadline.

On January 16, Shahriar Alam told reporters that a delay by few days should not matter given the complexities of the crisis.