T

he repatriation of 114 Rohingya refugees, confirmed by Indonesia as Bangladeshis, from Aceh has been delayed as Dhaka continues investigating their exact status, an official said Friday.

"The Bangladeshi Embassy *in Jakarta* will have to further verify *whether they are from Bangladesh or not* because they *the refugee* are not carrying any identification," Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said.

A month-long investigation by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry team, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) concluded that the refugees were ethnic Rohingya from Bangladesh, who fled their country to escape poverty.

The Foreign Ministry said the refugees, who were part of nearly 400 Rohingya who arrived by boat in Aceh province earlier this year, have agreed to be repatriated to their home country.

Faizasyah said the Bangladeshi government was not questioning the identity of the refugees, who were earlier thought to be from neighboring Myanmar, simply to drag out the repatriation progress.

"It's a big repatriation... and we understand that the Bangladeshi government must make their own assessment of the plan. And the point is the Bangladesh government has accepted *the result of the investigation* that they are from Bangladesh," he said.

Faizasyah said an investigation into the nationality of the remaining refugees was still ongoing, though the process may take a while before a definite result could be attained.

The Foreign Ministry initially claimed that the majority of the nearly 400 refugees were Myanmarese Rohingya, a minority facing prosecution under the military junta.