Iran Press/Asia: UN secretary general António Guterres has called for prosecution of those behind the Rohingya crisis, urging the security council to act on what has become “one of the world’s worst humanitarian and human rights crises.
Without using the word genocide, UN secretary general added that the UN report by independent experts found “patterns of gross human rights violations and abuses’ committed by the security forces, which it said ‘undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law.’”
UN secretary general praised Bangladesh for its generosity but called for a global response to the crisis and international cooperation to ensure Myanmar is held accountable for its actions.
Gutteres also spoke of the horrific accounts he heard during his visit to Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh last month. “One father broke down as he told me how his son was shot dead in front of him. His mother was brutally murdered and his house burned to the ground,” UN secretary general said.
Since the crackdown began a year ago, tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have died, and 700,000 have fled northern Rakhine state. Most are living in refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh. About 130,000 who stayed in Rakhine “remain confined in camps with severe restrictions on their freedom of movement. They have extremely limited access to health, education and other essential services, and to ways of making a living”, said the secretary general.
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UNSC pushes Myanmar over Rohingya
The United Nations Security Council urged Myanmar’s government in May to carry out transparent investigations into accusations of violence against mainly Rohingya Muslims in the country’s Rakhine state and to allow immediate aid access to the region.
Guterres said it was clear that conditions did not yet exist for the safe return of Rohingya refugees and called on security council members to join him in urging Myanmar ensure access to UN agencies and partners.
“A year has passed. This crisis cannot continue indefinitely,” he said.
Several security council members joined the call for the perpetrators to be brought before an international tribunal, including Britain, France, Kuwait, the Netherlands and Sweden. They also called for a mechanism to “collect and preserve proof” of abuses.
The UN report, released on Monday, called for the prosecution of the country’s commander-in-chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and five generals. The crimes it cited after a long inquiry included murder, enforced disappearance, torture and sexual violence “perpetrated on a massive scale”.
For the past year, the security council has limited itself to statements condemning the violence and demanding access for humanitarian aid, and for the right of those who have fled to return to their homes.
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