He justified the unjustified opposition to the probe saying the investigation will aggravate tension. But the fact is that attempt by the Myanmar government to shield its atrocities on the minority Muslim community is a flagrant violation of international human rights charter and hiding the truth will not be helpful to resolve the crisis. Myanmar government must recognize the Rohingya people’s right to their homeland and restore their citizenship shelved since 2012. It must agree with the UN plan to find the truth to resolve the crisis.
It is clear Aung San Suu Kyi and her government is painfully reluctant to address the Rohingya issue. The Rakhine state has been under renewed lockdown since October, when the military launched a security operation in response to what it claims was an attack by Rohingya outfit on border posts, in which nine police officers were killed.
More than 90,000 Rohingya have been forced to flee homes since the crackdown began, according to UN estimates. A UN report in February said the campaign against the Rohingyas, who were stripped of their citizenship is “very likely” amount to war crimes.
Following the report, the UN adopted a resolution in March to send an independent, international mission to investigate the alleged abuses. Suu Kyi’s security adviser did not directly address the allegations of abuse outlined in the report, but said it has a “clear right to defend the country by lawful means” as it tackles “increasing terrorist activities”.
Myanmar officials say a domestic investigation found no evidence of torture or abuse on Rohingyas. In that case we believe Myanmar should not have any objection to accept the call by the global community to accept the probe mission. There is also no reason to ignore call by the US Ambassador to the UN to accept the mission when she said the “international community cannot overlook what is happening” in the country. Human Rights Watch feared Myanmar risked getting bracketed with “pariah states” like North Korea and Syria if it did not allow the UN to investigate alleged crimes.
But international news agency reports show there is a clear policy of the Myanmar army to systematically suppress Rohingyas and allowing ultra nationalist Buddhist groups to uproot them from their homes. It is part of their policy to identify Rohingyas as enemies of the state.
We must say Myanmar should accept the UN probe mission, because it can’t silence global voice against its crime on humanity. It should open dialogue with Bangladesh to return Rohingya refugees as part of solving the greater problem.
