By UNB
Yanghee Lee, the Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights in Myanmar, told the Human Rights Council on Tuesday
the situation in Myanmar was of extreme concern, and was not what she and
others had hoped to see nearly four years after the election of the National
League for Democracy.
A UN human rights expert has implored
Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to 'feel with her heart before it is
too late', saying that even if Rohingyas wished to return they have little to
go back to.
More than half million #Rohingyas are facing a “serious risk of #genocide,” according to #UN investigators. The report outlined that the killings, torture, rape, gang rape and forced displacement are still taking place. https://lnkd.in/gQcUUu2
"I'd like to ask the State Counsellor if
the Myanmar that exists today is what she had truly aspired to bring about
throughout the decades of her relentless fight for a free and democratic
Myanmar? I implore you Madame State Counsellor to open your eyes, listen, feel
with your heart, and please use your moral authority, before it is too
late," she said.
Despite international condemnation, Lee said
Myanmar had done nothing to dismantle the system of violence and persecution
against Rohingya, and that the Rohingya who remain in Rakhine live in the same
dire circumstances that they did prior to the events of August 2017.
Rohingya Genocide & World's Hypocrisy, “Myanmar guilty Bangladesh victim” https://lnkd.in/dMSZXsb
"They are denied citizenship and
recognition, face regular violence (including in the context of the ongoing
conflict between the Arakan Army and the Tatmadaw), are unable to move freely
and have little access to food, healthcare, education, livelihoods and
services," she said.
"Myanmar claims to have done what is
necessary for the repatriation to be successful, and continues to blame
Bangladesh for any delay," she said. "However, information I have
leads me to believe that the contrary is true."
Lee noted that satellite imagery showed the
development of 34 camps, but said their precise purpose was unclear. She said
they may be intended to detain the remaining Rohingya population and those who
decide to return.
She said satellite imagery shows the extent
of development in northern Rakhine, including six military bases that had been
built on the site of destroyed Rohingya villages.
Of the 392 villages that were destroyed, there
has been no attempt to reconstruct 320 of them, with 40 percent of villages
having been completely razed to the ground.
"Some of that demolition occurred in
2018 and some even in 2019, and all of this is completely antithetical to the
claim that Myanmar is ready to receive the refugees. I further note that under
Myanmar's land laws, burned land reverts to Government ownership. In this
situation, even if the refugees wished to return to Myanmar, what have they got
to go back to?"
Lee added: "My belief is unwavering that
accountability is necessary for the country as a whole, as well as being key to
successful repatriation: it will bring about an end to the military's violence
against ethnic minorities in Myanmar and the possibility that the Rohingya could
live safely in Rakhine."
The Special Rapporteur also expressed concern
about conflict between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army, and accusations of
indiscriminate use of heavy artillery fire, gunfire and landmines in civilian
areas and civilians were killed as a result.
She said in August the conflict in northern
Shan worsened after coordinated attacks by the Myanmar National Democratic
Alliance Army, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army, known
as the Three Brotherly Alliance.
The attacks sparked intense fighting between
the Tatmadaw and the ethnic armed organisations across inhabited areas and
along main roads in northern Shan, according to a media release issued from
Geneva.
"Weeks of fighting were waged with
disregard for the safety, welfare and rights of civilians."
Targeted and indiscriminate use of heavy
artillery fire as well as landmines reportedly caused at least 17 civilian
deaths and temporarily displaced an estimated 8,000 people in northern Shan,
1,600 of them remain displaced now.
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Don’t forget to read more below:
UN FFM Report: 600,000 Rohingya still in
Myanmar at 'serious risk of genocide': https://lnkd.in/grp4Gvg
Can China Able to Help Find a Durable
Solution for the Rohingya Refugees Crisis? https://lnkd.in/g6qy_qK