The Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population on June 5 signed a Memorandum of Understanding on assistance to the repatriation process of displaced persons from Rakhine state with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The Myanmar side was led by Union Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor Kyaw Tint Swe, Union Minister for International Cooperation Kyaw Tin and Union Attorney-General Tun Tun Oo. The document was inked by Knut Ostby, Resident Representative of the UNDP in Myanmar, and Giuseppe de Vincentiis, Resident Representative of the UNHCR at the signing ceremony which took place at the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre in Nay Pyi Taw.
Union Minister Kyaw Tint Swe said that he hoped the repatriation process to be successful with the tripartite MoU between the Myanmar government, the UNDP and the UNHCR. He recounted that Myanmar and the UN have previously co-worked to successfully cooperate uopn the voluntary, safe and dignified return of displaced persons.
The Myanmar government and the UNHCR in 1993 signed a MoU to provide a frame of assistance and cooperation in the voluntary repatriation programme from Bangladesh, which resulted in the repatriating of some 230,000 displaced persons. Deputy Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Soe Aung, Deputy Attorney-General Win Myint, permanent secretaries from relevant ministries, directors-general, diplomats and officials from the UN agencies attended the event.
