Myanmar’s military junta rejects UN resolution on Rohingya
Bangkok Desk, Jul 15 (EFE).- Myanmar’s military junta has rejected a recent United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on the plight of the persecuted Rohingya minority, which is not recognized by the country’s authorities.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, controlled by the junta since the Feb. 1 coup, said in a statement that the resolution is based “on false information and one-sided allegations,” the official Global New Light of Myanmar reported Thursday.
It added that the “so-called ‘Rohingya’ … has never been recognized as the ethnic nationality by Myanmar.”
Myanmar governments have considered the Rohingya illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, despite having lived in the country for centuries, and deny them basic rights.
More than 720,000 Rohingya remain in refugee camps in Bangladesh, to where they fled in August 2017 as a result of the crackdown launched by the army in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine after attacks by a Rohingya group on security posts.
The retaliation, preceded by other episodes of violence in previous years, was described by UN investigators as “ethnic cleansing” with “hallmarks of genocide.”
The International Court of Justice in The Hague is investigating an accusation of genocide for the aforementioned military operation, which targets military commanders including junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing.
On Monday, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution condemning gross human rights violations and abuses, including those perpetrated by the security and armed forces, against Rohingya Muslims and other minorities.
It also expressed concern that the coup poses “serious challenges to the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of forcibly displaced Rohingya Muslims and all internally displaced persons,” among other things.
Myanmar is mired in a deep political and humanitarian crisis as a result of the military coup that ended the incipient democracy in the country, and the violent crackdown of the security forces against the anti-coup protesters.
The Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners has recorded at least 906 deaths and more than 6,670 detainees since the coup. EFE
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