The Myanmar government and two UN agencies are “close” to signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will be crucial to frame the involvement of the two organisations in addressing the Rakhine crisis, especially with regard to the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of refugees to Myanmar, reports The Myanmar Times.

Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Minister U Win Myat Aye said on Monday that the deal under negotiation between the government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is in its final stretch.

U Win Myat Aye said that negotiations on the MoU are looking into the role the UNHCR will play in line with the agreement signed between Myanmar and Bangladesh last November.

“We are finalising details and outlining preconditions for signing the agreement. It will be signed soon,” he said, without naming a date for the signing.

The international community has called on Myanmar government to allow the UN agencies’ assistance to the government in repatriating the refugees who fled waves of violence in Rakhine over the past two years. The mass exodus of Muslims from Myanmar to Bangladesh was triggered by attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on government security outposts and a brutal military counterinsurgency campaign.

“In the absence of an agreement between the UNHCR, Myanmar and Bangladesh, the UNHCR has continued to engage with both governments in negotiations on two separate MoUs, meant to ensure that any future returns are conducted in line with international standards of voluntariness, safety and dignity,” according to a statement released by UNHCR on May 13.

Paul Vrieze, associate communications officer of UNHCR’s Yangon office, told The Myanmar Times in an email that the negotiations are ongoing.

“The UN is committed to supporting the government in creating conditions conducive to the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable repatriation of refugees to their places of origin or of their choosing,” he said.

The recent outbreak in northern Rakhine erupted in August when the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army fiattacked government outposts.

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