Implement Annan Commission recommendations
The Kofi Annan Commission, led by the late former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, was created by Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in 2016, to devise long-term solutions to the ethnic and religious divisions in the state of Rakhine. However, surprisingly, the very government of Suu Kyi is ignoring and discrediting the recommendations made by the commission.
It’s very curious that a day after the panel issued its report in August 2017; Myanmar authorities suddenly claimed that Rohingya insurgents attacked their security posts. In the name of controlling the situation, the authorities launched a military crackdown, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of Rohingya people and displacement of hundreds of thousands. Rights groups are in consensus that the campaign was a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” with genocidal intent.
In the days that followed, as the situation worsened, the recommendations made by the commission became almost irrelevant. If, instead of launching the brutal crackdown, the government of Myanmar had paid heed to the recommendations, the situation would have been completely different.
We still hope that Myanmar’s authorities will come to their senses and redeem themselves by taking back the Rohingya refugees with all their rights guaranteed.
Mobarak Ali
Dhaka
