The
human rights situation in Myanmar continues to deteriorate, as the civilian
government fails to bring about democratic reforms and instead resorts to the
kind of repression carried out under previous military regimes, said the UN
human rights expert Yanghee Lee, speaking at the
end of an 11-day mission to neighbouring Thailand and Bangladesh.
Read
also: OHCHR | End of mission statement by the Special Rapporteur on the situation
of human rights in Myanmar: https://shar.es/am1YqD
Ms.
Lee, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar,
described the “democratic space” in Myanmar (including freedom of speech and
association) as “fragile,” with religious and ethnic divisions remaining across
the country, as well as the marginalization and discrimination of minorities:
“I am greatly concerned that the enduring repressive environment is
discouraging people from speaking out freely about human rights violations and
injustices’, she said.
She
added that “disagreements, criticism and debate are healthy and necessary in
any functioning democracy. Journalists and human rights defenders continue to
be targeted for exercising their right to freedom of expression. I call on the
authorities to end this mistreatment and immediately release all those unjustly
imprisoned.”
The
human rights situation in Myanmar, she said, has been further complicated by
fighting in several regions of the country, undermining the prospects that some
162,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in the area will be able to return
home.
The
Myanmar government plan to close IDP camps and relocate people to remote areas,
she added, far from their places of origin and removed from economic
opportunities and humanitarian support. Whilst they have consulted with the UN
on the subject of camp closures, the government have failed to consult with
IDPs or organizations working with the displaced populations, and the return of
people to their places of origin must be in accord with international standards
of safety, voluntariness, dignity and sustainability.
Ms. Lee
expressed her deep concern that Internally Displaced People (IDPs) are
particularly vulnerable to losing their rights to ancestral homelands,
following recent amendments to a law that permits the government to expropriate
land, from ethnic areas – including Rakhine, Kachin, Shan and Kayin State where
communities have depended on this land for their livelihoods, traditions and
culture for generations – at particular risk.
No
Rohingya returns, rather ‘a sustained campaign of violence’
As for
the potential return of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees, Ms. Lee
stated that Myanmar is not working to created conditions for their return, but
is instead engaging in a “sustained campaign of violence, intimidation and
harassment.”
She
shared testimony from Rohingya refugees she met during her visit to the refugee
camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, citing a fresh arrival to the camp who said
that her father had been stabbed to death by Myanmar security forces; a refugee
who fled with his entire family after his mother and sister were abducted and
raped; and videos in which she saw houses burning in Muangdaw township, which,
according to information gathered by her team, were set alight by Myanmar
security forces working in concert with Rakhine extremists. Under Myanmar’s
plan for the return of Rohingya, according to reports in November 2018,
Muangdaw was identified as a resettlement area.
Refugees
must have say in any island relocation
Ms. Lee
also visited the island of Bhashan Char, which the Bangladesh Government is
reportedly transforming into a camp for some of the Rohingya refugees, despite
concerns that it could be vulnerable to extreme weather events such as
cyclones.
She
told journalists at a press conference on Friday in the Bangladeshi capital,
Dhaka, that she was anxious about whether the conditions on the island, which
she described as isolated, are adequate to fulfil the needs and rights of
Rohingya’s refugees: “If any plans are made about refugee relocation in the
future, refugees must be fully engaged and participate in the process,” she
said. “Without a protection framework agreed with the humanitarian community,
the plans cannot move forward.”
Clip -
Yanghee Lee, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
by United Nations News via #soundcloud https://lnkd.in/gjBjApC
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