ROHINGYAS REPATRIATION

YANGON : The stateless Rohingya have been the target of communal violence and vicious anti Muslim sentiment in manily Buddhist Myanmar for for years on end.

They have also been systematically oppressed by the government which stripped the minority of citizenship and severely restricts their movement, as well as their access to basic services.

Following talks between Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Dhaka's Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali held after weeks of tussling over the terms of repatriation, the two sides inked a deal in Myanmar's capital Naypydaw on Thursday.

In a brief statement, Dhaka said they had agreed to start returning the refugees to mainly Buddhist  Myanmar in two months.

''This is a primary step, [They] will take back [Rohingya]. Now we have to start working,'' Ali told reporters in Naypyidaw.

Impoverished and overcrowded  Bangladesh has won international praise for allowing the refugees into the country, but has imposed restrictions on their movements and said it does want them to stay.

Suu Kyi's office called Thursday's agreement a ''win-win'' situation for both countries'' saying the issue should be ''resolved amicably through bilateral negotiations''.

The World Students Society and Rights groups have raised concerns about the process, including where the minority will be resettled after hundreds of their villages were razed-

And how their safety will be ensured in a country where anti-Muslim sentiments is surging.