TEHRAN - Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali is scheduled to visit Myanmar on August 9 to oversee preparations being made for the safe repatriation of Rohingya refugees.

Ali discussed the plan with India’s Deputy Minister for External Affairs VK Singh during a meeting on the sidelines of the 25th ASEAN Regional Forum in Singapore on Friday, Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry said.

Bangladesh and Myanmar have signed a deal for the safe, dignified and voluntary repatriation of Rohingya refugees back to their country from Bangladesh.

As per conservative estimates, there are around 905,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar presently, although some human rights bodies have put the figure higher.

The exodus of persecuted Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar’s Rakhine state started in October 2016, following the crackdown by trigger-happy Burmese security forces. Almost 200,000 of them fled to neighboring Bangladesh and settled in Cox’s Bazar.

However, things took nasty turn in August last year when more than 720,000 Rohingya refugees fled to Bangladesh en masse to escape persecution, murder, arson and rape. The savagery in Rakhine was described by the United Nations as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

During the meeting, the statement said, Singh reaffirmed India’s readiness to extend all possible cooperation and support to Bangladesh for implementation of the terms of the agreement between Myanmar and Bangladesh.