"Asean has a lot of work to do for the sake of its own relevancy as Myanmar and Bangladesh make another attempt to repatriate thousands of Muslim Rohingyas to strife-torn Rakhine state. The authority in Myanmar’s capital Nay Pyi Taw had announced last week that Myanmar would accept 3,450 refugees from the list of 22,000 provided by Bangladesh earlier this month, as the first batch of people to resettle in Myanmar. It is not known publicly how the list was made and on what ground their names were submitted to the Myanmar authority. The repatriation of nearly one million refugees, who fled from difficulties and conflict at home since 1990s to shelters in Bangladesh, will be an uphill task, due to scarred memories of all involved. Of the 911,000 people sheltered in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, nearly 740,000 left Rakhine state following brutal violence in August 2017. This saw Myanmar’s military (Tatmadaw) reacting in a heavy-handed manner to the series of attacks by militants working under the banner of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). The so-called clearance operation caused atrocities including arson, torture, gang rape, murder and massacre, acts that the United Nations considered ethnic cleansing. The UN even suggested that genocide charges be raised against those responsible from the Tatmadaw..."