YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar and UN agencies signed an agreement Wednesday that could eventually lead to the return of some of the 700,000 Rohingya Muslims who fled brutal persecution by the country’s security forces and are now crowded into makeshift camps in Bangladesh.

The memorandum of understanding promises to establish a ‘‘framework of cooperation’’ that aims to create conditions for ‘‘voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable’’ repatriation of Rohingya refugees but does not address Myanmar’s denial of citizenship for the minority.

Myanmar’s government said it hoped the pact would hasten repatriation, but rights groups still doubt it will let many Rohingya return or can guarantee the safety of those who do. Myanmar’s statement didn’t mention Rohingya, reflecting the government and the Burmese majority’s insistence there is no such ethnic group in Myanmar. Instead it referred to them as ‘‘displaced persons.’’

Myanmar’s security forces have been accused of rape, killing, torture, and the burning of Rohingya homes in western Rakhine state, where most Rohingya lived.

The UN and United States have described the army crackdown that began in August last year as ethnic cleansing.

Predominantly Buddhist Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in November to begin repatriating Rohingya.

But refugees feared their lives would be at risk in Myanmar without international monitoring, while Myanmar insisted they have identity documents, which most Rohingya have been denied.

associated press