Pressure is growing on Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar’s military forces to allow independent investigations of the current situation in Rakhine State.
Earlier this month, John McKissick, a UNHCR official, labelled the government’s actions as an “ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority in Myanmar.”
Yesterday, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng, expressed concern at reports of the deteriorating security and living conditions, and human rights abuses that are allegedly taking place in Rakhine.
Both Suu Kyi’s office and military forces have denied that this kind of violence, particularly against the Rohingya Muslim population living in the region, is taking place. However, no independent media outlets have been allowed access to the area to verify or disprove their statements.
Dieng noted that “the current restrictions on access to northern Rakhine State, which prevent verification of the allegations, are contributing to suspicion and alarm. Denying the allegations without allowing for their verification is counterproductive.”
Stressing the critical nature of the situation, he urged the government to take immediate action. “These allegations must be verified as a matter of urgency…If they are true, the lives of thousands of people are at risk,” he stated.
He also reminded the Myanmar government that in spite of the 2015 elections — the country’s first openly-contested election since 1990 — and the nation’s subsequent transition to democracy, there are still several steps that Myanmar needs to take in order to become a fully democratic nation for all of its citizens.
“Myanmar needs to demonstrate its commitment to the rule of law and to the human rights of all its populations….Wherever and whenever these types of allegations are reported in the world, it is the duty of the international community to remind States of their responsibilities to their populations and their obligations under international law. Myanmar is no exception.”
“The Government needs, for once and for all, to find a sustainable solution to the situation of the Rohingya Muslims and other religious and ethnic minorities in Myanmar, a solution that is in full compliance with the international human rights standards that the Government has pledged to respect”.
He also urged authorities in Bangladesh to accept and assist refugees fleeing Myanmar.
Violence against Muslims has been a long-standing problem in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Dieng pointed out that “the current violence did not come out of thin air. It is taking place against a background of very deeply rooted discrimination against specific sectors of the population and a failure to put in place conditions that would support peaceful coexistence among the different communities in Rakhine State.”
Emphasizing that Myanmar’s actions, or failure to act, will affect how they are seen by the rest of the world, he stated, “The reputation of Myanmar, its new Government and its military forces is also at stake in this matter.”
