A/HRC/42/CRP.5 safe, dignified and sustainable return.462 Myanmar continued to maintain its position that repatriation should take place in the context of the bilateral agreements between Myanmar and Bangladesh.463 209. In August 2019, the Government of Myanmar agreed to the repatriation of 3,450 Rohingya refugees, who were cleared from a list of approximately 25,000 individuals that the Government of Bangladesh had shared.464 The first group of refugees were scheduled for repatriation on 22 August 2019.465 The Government of Bangladesh stressed the voluntariness of the process and noted that nobody would be forced to return.466 While the Government of Bangladesh made logistical arrangements for their return, none of the selected families agreed to the planned repatriation.467 Instead the refugees held protests against the repatriation and demanded accountability, full citizenship rights, return of land and properties.468 UNHCR interviewed the refugees who had been cleared for repatriation. On 22 August, UNHCR publicly acknowledged that none of them had indicated a willingness to return.469 G. Conclusions and legal findings: the impossibility of return 210. The Mission determined in its 2018 report that the level of oppression faced by the Rohingya was hard to fathom. Over many decades Government laws, policies and practices made life for the Rohingya in Rakhine State slowly but steadily unbearable. Rights were eroded and removed, in a process of marginalisation, exclusion and “othering”. Layers of discrimination and ill-treatment were added. This occurred through the denial of legal status and identity and the denial of the right to freedom of movement. It occurred through restrictions on access to food, livelihoods, health care, education, humanitarian access and additional restrictions affecting private life. And it occured through the oppression of arbitrary arrest, detention and other measures.470 The State-sanctioned laws, policies and practices occurred in the context of State-sanctioned discriminatory rhetoric. Hateful and divisive language targeted the Rohingya on the basis of their ethnicity, religion and status. The Mission concluded that the severe, systemic and institutionalised oppression, from birth to death, amounted to persecution.471 211. The Mission also concluded in its 2018 report that there were reasonable grounds for an inference that the Tatmadaw and other security force carried out attacks against Myanmar’s Rohingya population with genocidal intent.472 The Mission found there were reasonable grounds to also conclude that members of Myanmar’s security forces, and 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 The Daily Star, Bangladesh for early start to Rohingya repatriation, 3 May 2019. Eleven Media Group, Myanmar and Bangladesh highlight increased cooperation in cross-border related issues through existing bilateral mechanisms, 5 May 2019. The Guardian, Myanmar and Bangladesh to start sending back thousands of Rohingya, 16 August 2019; Reuters, Exclusive: Myanmar, Bangladesh agree to start Rohingya repatriation next week, 15 August 2019. The Daily Star, Rohingya Repatriation: First batch to return Aug 22, 16 August 2019. The Daily Star, Rohingya Repatriation: First batch to return Aug 22, 16 August 2019, Dhaka Tribune, Myanmar, Bangladesh agree to start Rohingya repatriation next week, 15 August 2019. The Guardian, Rohingya refugees refuse to return to Myanmar without rights guarantee, 21 August 2019; The Guardian, Rohingya refugees refuse to return to Myanmar without rights guarantee, 21 August 2019; The Guardian, Rohingya refugees turn down second Myanmar repatriation effort, 22 August 2019, see also UNHCR Statement on Voluntary Repatriation t72o Myanmar, 22 August 2019, available from https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2019/8/5d5e720a4/unhcr-statement-voluntaryrepatriation-myanmar.html. HRW, halt Rohingya repatriation, available from https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/08/20/myanmar/bangladesh-halt-rohingya-returns. UNHCR Statement on Voluntary Repatriation to Myanmar, 22 August 2019, available from https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2019/8/5d5e720a4/unhcr-statement-voluntary-repatriationmyanmar.html. A/HRC/39/CRP.2, paras. 110-147. A/HRC/39/CRP.2, para. 622. A/HRC/39/CRP.2, para. 1441. 67