UN fears return to ‘square one’ in treatment of Rohingya by Myanmar

The UN’s special Envoy to Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, on Wednesday warned of the latest threat to the Rohingya Muslim minority in the country.

The Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s armed forces, which seized control of the country last month in a coup, said it intends to review the recommendations of the 2018 Advisory Commission on Rakhine State. This was chaired by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan with the aim of ending the Rohingya crisis.

On Aug. 25, 2017 attacks against police and military forces by an armed group identified as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), prompted the launch of so-called “clearance operations.” In addition to military and civilian casualties, this resulted in the mass displacement of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who were forced to flee from Rakhine across the border to Bangladesh.

In addition to reconsidering the recommendations of the Annan commission, the coup leaders are also reviewing the work of the Independent Commission of Inquiry. This was established at the request of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s government to investigate the 2017 attacks and their consequences, including allegations of human rights violations and war crimes, with a view to holding guilty parties accountable and finding a path to peace.

Schraner Burgener said that if the Tatmadaw follows through on its stated intention to reevaluate the work of the two commissions, “then I really fear that they will go back to square one with the treatment of Rohingya.”

In its report, the Annan commission presented the government with 88 recommendations, including the granting of full humanitarian and media access to the conflict zones, and an impartial investigation of human rights abuses allegedly carried out by the Tatmadaw.

It urged the government to close all camps for internally displaced people in Rakhine state in accordance with international standards, combat hate speech against members of the Muslim minority, and take steps to give them a voice in the country and allow freedom of movement.

It also called for Myanmar’s citizenship-verification process to be accelerated by overhauling the 1982 citizenship law, the provisions of which are responsible for thousands of Rohingya remaining stateless. There were also a number of recommendations relating to economic development, infrastructure, health, education, rule of law and cultural development.

Schraner Burgener said that Soe Win, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Tatmadaw, initially assured her that efforts based on the commission’s report to address the Rohingya refugee crisis would “absolutely continue.”

However, she said she was later surprised to learn that the Administrative Council established after the coup planned to conduct an investigation into Annan’s work on the grounds that it had been carried out “in the self-interest of an individual without taking national interest into consideration.” The individual in question is Aung San Suu Kyi, the envoy said.

Schraner Burgener added that she intends to ask Soe Win for an explanation the next time they speak.