Myanmar on Saturday repatriated the first five of nearly 700,000 minority Rohingya Muslims who fled to Bangladesh after a brutal military crackdown was launched in August, dubbed ethnic cleansing by the UN.

“Five family members who fled their homes were returned to relatives’ houses in Maungdaw town [in Myanmar’s Rakhine state] via Taung Pyo Letwei receiving centre and were issued a National Verification Card,’’ said a statement.

Myanmar and Bangladesh signed a repatriation agreement in November which was widely condemned by the UN and human rights groups who have said Rohingya returns should be voluntary, safe and to their place of origin.

“Myanmar plans to repatriate the Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh to 11 “new villages” close to their original homes.

“Myanmar is likely to allow Rohingya Muslims to apply for citizenship, subject to verification, once they return,’’ Myanmar’s social welfare, relief and resettlement minister said on Thursday in Bangladesh.

The process of “national verification” is largely shunned by the Rohingya who are forced to take the ethnicity “Bengali,” inferring they are interlopers from Bangladesh.

Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de facto leader, said on Friday that an International Criminal Court (ICC) query about taking over jurisdiction in the investigation of Myanmar’s “deportation” of the minority Rohingya is a source of serious concern.

An ICC prosecutor has asked the court in The Hague to rule on whether it has jurisdiction for the exodus of Rohingya to Bangladesh, citing possible crimes against humanity.

(dpa/NAN)