Special Correspondent :
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday urged Myanmar to make sure the half-million Rohingya Muslim refugees who have fled in the last two months can go home, and not go to camps.
He came up with the call while addressing an informal Security Council meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, report agencies.
“Myanmar’s government needs to “create conditions that will allow the refugees to return with dignity and with a sense of security” and help them rebuild in violence-wracked Rakhine state. They (refugees) should not be returned to camps. They need assistance to get their homes back,” he said
Annan, who led an advisory committee to the Mymanmar government recently, said world powers must work with country’s military and civilian leaders to end the Rohingya refugee crisis.
While talking with the reporters at UN Headquarters after the closed-door meeting with the Security Council, he said the “good discussion” had focused mainly on the report produced by the Commission, which was welcomed by the UN in August.
“It was clear that everyone agrees on what needs to be done in the short-term: stopping the violence; getting humanitarian aid to those in need, and helping with the dignified and voluntary return for those refugees in Bangladesh,” he explained.
This particular point “is not going to be easy,” he continued, stressing that the refugees would only go back if they had a sense of security and confidence that their lives would be better.
The Security Council is weighing action, possibly a resolution laying out demands, but diplomats have said China, a supporter of Myanmar’s former military junta, and Russia are opposed to such measure.
Annan recalled that his report had stated that the refugees not be put in camps and that they must be allowed to go back to their villages and helped to rebuild and reconstruct their lives.
He went on to say that key question of citizenship and verification was “a real problem for the Muslim community.”
The former UN Secretary-General pointed out that State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Ky had accepted the recommendations in his report and had agreed to set up an implementation committee.
“The report is generally accepted and could form a framework and basis for action as we move forward; hopefully Myanmar and the international community can work together on these core issues,” he said, expressing the hope that the issue of Rakhine could be settled to give the country “time and space to address the wider issues in the country.”
Asked about the discussions in the Council, Annan said: “I would hope that the resolution that comes out urges the Government to really press ahead and create conditions that will allow the refugees to return in dignity and with a sense of security.”
The international community, he said, appears prepared to engage Myanmar and work on a common roadmap based on his report, as a common basis, “to go forward together and try to stabilize the situation,” or else this would become a “long-term festering problem.”
Asked about next steps, Annan said: “We worked on this report [for a year] and my work is done. There is no ‘plan B.’ We have to tackle the root causes, and the report deals with that and [if there is serious implementation] could ensure that we won’t have repetition of the violence and attacks.”
Myanmar’s UN mission didn’t respond to a request for comment on Friday’s session of the Security Council.
Friday’s meeting was “particularly useful and helpful to build consensus” on two goals: Supporting the recommendations of Annan’s commission and denouncing “the totally inacceptable status quo,” French Ambassador Francois Delattre said.
He co-chaired the session with British envoy Matthew Rycroft.
Asked whether sanctions or another resolution could ensue, Rycroft said he hoped to “carry on working in a spirit of bringing everyone together.” “And we will explore whether there is the appetite to do more,” he added.
The Chinese and Russian UN missions didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The Security Council has repeatedly discussed Myanmar recently, but views have been divided among the veto-wielding members. At a meeting late last month, Britain, France and the US demanded an end to what they called ethnic cleansing, while China’s ambassador called for patience. Russia’s envoy warned that “excessive pressure” could only worsen the problems.
In an unprecedented exodus, more than 500,000 Rohingya have fled from Rakhine to neighbouring Bangladesh since August. 25, when security forces clamped down after the latest in a series of attacks on police posts by a Rohingya militant group. Many houses were burned in the crackdown, and Rohingya refugees have described rape, looting and abuse. The UN and some countries have called the events “ethnic cleansing,” which Myanmar’s government denies. It has blamed the crisis on terrorism.
The August attacks came a day after the Annan-led commission released its report, which called for economic development and social justice to counter the deadly violence.
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday urged Myanmar to make sure the half-million Rohingya Muslim refugees who have fled in the last two months can go home, and not go to camps.
He came up with the call while addressing an informal Security Council meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, report agencies.
“Myanmar’s government needs to “create conditions that will allow the refugees to return with dignity and with a sense of security” and help them rebuild in violence-wracked Rakhine state. They (refugees) should not be returned to camps. They need assistance to get their homes back,” he said
Annan, who led an advisory committee to the Mymanmar government recently, said world powers must work with country’s military and civilian leaders to end the Rohingya refugee crisis.
While talking with the reporters at UN Headquarters after the closed-door meeting with the Security Council, he said the “good discussion” had focused mainly on the report produced by the Commission, which was welcomed by the UN in August.
“It was clear that everyone agrees on what needs to be done in the short-term: stopping the violence; getting humanitarian aid to those in need, and helping with the dignified and voluntary return for those refugees in Bangladesh,” he explained.
This particular point “is not going to be easy,” he continued, stressing that the refugees would only go back if they had a sense of security and confidence that their lives would be better.
The Security Council is weighing action, possibly a resolution laying out demands, but diplomats have said China, a supporter of Myanmar’s former military junta, and Russia are opposed to such measure.
Annan recalled that his report had stated that the refugees not be put in camps and that they must be allowed to go back to their villages and helped to rebuild and reconstruct their lives.
He went on to say that key question of citizenship and verification was “a real problem for the Muslim community.”
The former UN Secretary-General pointed out that State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Ky had accepted the recommendations in his report and had agreed to set up an implementation committee.
“The report is generally accepted and could form a framework and basis for action as we move forward; hopefully Myanmar and the international community can work together on these core issues,” he said, expressing the hope that the issue of Rakhine could be settled to give the country “time and space to address the wider issues in the country.”
Asked about the discussions in the Council, Annan said: “I would hope that the resolution that comes out urges the Government to really press ahead and create conditions that will allow the refugees to return in dignity and with a sense of security.”
The international community, he said, appears prepared to engage Myanmar and work on a common roadmap based on his report, as a common basis, “to go forward together and try to stabilize the situation,” or else this would become a “long-term festering problem.”
Asked about next steps, Annan said: “We worked on this report [for a year] and my work is done. There is no ‘plan B.’ We have to tackle the root causes, and the report deals with that and [if there is serious implementation] could ensure that we won’t have repetition of the violence and attacks.”
Myanmar’s UN mission didn’t respond to a request for comment on Friday’s session of the Security Council.
Friday’s meeting was “particularly useful and helpful to build consensus” on two goals: Supporting the recommendations of Annan’s commission and denouncing “the totally inacceptable status quo,” French Ambassador Francois Delattre said.
He co-chaired the session with British envoy Matthew Rycroft.
Asked whether sanctions or another resolution could ensue, Rycroft said he hoped to “carry on working in a spirit of bringing everyone together.” “And we will explore whether there is the appetite to do more,” he added.
The Chinese and Russian UN missions didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The Security Council has repeatedly discussed Myanmar recently, but views have been divided among the veto-wielding members. At a meeting late last month, Britain, France and the US demanded an end to what they called ethnic cleansing, while China’s ambassador called for patience. Russia’s envoy warned that “excessive pressure” could only worsen the problems.
In an unprecedented exodus, more than 500,000 Rohingya have fled from Rakhine to neighbouring Bangladesh since August. 25, when security forces clamped down after the latest in a series of attacks on police posts by a Rohingya militant group. Many houses were burned in the crackdown, and Rohingya refugees have described rape, looting and abuse. The UN and some countries have called the events “ethnic cleansing,” which Myanmar’s government denies. It has blamed the crisis on terrorism.
The August attacks came a day after the Annan-led commission released its report, which called for economic development and social justice to counter the deadly violence.
