UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the international community to take action and fulfill its responsibilities under international law regarding the situation of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Guterres had once again drawn attention to the Rohingya crisis and called for necessary steps to be taken. Dujarric said that as security conditions deteriorate in Myanmar, Bangladesh and the region, the prospect of a lasting solution is also weakening.
Dujarric said declining funding for humanitarian aid was adversely affecting relief and rescue operations. He said Rohingya Muslims and other communities in Myanmar were facing conflict and forced displacement, while human rights violations continued.
Dujarric noted that restrictions on movement and barriers to humanitarian access remained in place, saying that hundreds of civilians were losing their lives every year. He also said the Rohingya were being subjected to arbitrary detention and sexual violence.
Guterres stressed that civilians must be protected in accordance with relevant international legal obligations, including international humanitarian law, international human rights law and international migration law. Welcoming Bangladesh’s position and that of other countries prepared to accept Rohingya refugees, he called for protection to be provided to people fleeing Myanmar.
Expressing concern over the deaths of many Rohingya at sea, Guterres called for cooperation in search-and-rescue operations in the region.
The UN secretary-general said joint action was needed to achieve a comprehensive political solution to the crisis in Myanmar. He called on the international community to continue providing humanitarian aid, livelihood support and assistance with self-reliance until conditions are created for the Rohingya’s voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return.
History of violence in Rakhine
Clashes between Buddhists and Muslims broke out in Myanmar’s Rakhine State in 2012. Thousands of people, most of them Muslims, were killed in the violence, while hundreds of homes and businesses were burned.
On August 25, 2017, Myanmar’s military and Buddhist nationalists launched a wide-ranging campaign of violence, citing attacks on border posts in Rakhine as justification. According to United Nations figures, more than 900,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh since August 2017 to escape persecution and oppression.
International human rights organizations released satellite images showing that hundreds of villages had been destroyed. The UN and international human rights organizations describe the violence against the Rohingya as ethnic cleansing or genocide.
