A United Nations committee has endorsed a resolution calling on Myanmar to put an end to its military operations that have caused more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh since late August.
The General Assembly’s Third Committee, which focuses on human rights, on Thursday passed the resolution, drafted by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, with 135 votes in favour to 10 against (Myanmar, China, Russia, Belarus, Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Philippines, Syria, Vietnam, Zimbabwe) with 26, including India, abstaining.
The resolution also called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to appoint a special envoy on Myanmar.
More than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have so far fled the predominantly-Buddhist Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh since August 25, when a crackdown on the Rohingya intensified in Rakhine.
The United Nations has already described the Rohingya as the most persecuted community in the world, calling the situation in Rakhine similar to a textbook example of ethnic cleansingEstimates as to how many Muslims have been killed vary from 1,000 to 3,000.
At the root of the crisis is the refusal by Myanmar to grant citizenship to the Muslim minority. The government says the Rohingya should go to Bangladesh, where they are originally from, while Bangladesh says that they are from Myanmar and that Dhaka has accepted Rohingya refugees only on humanitarian grounds.
Thursday’s resolution also called on Myanmar’s authorities to grant access to a UN panel tasked with investigating allegations of abuse after the eruption of a wave of violence in October 2016.
It also urged full and unhindered access of humanitarian aid to the violence-hit region and called on Myanmar to grant full citizenship rights to Rohingya Muslims.
The resolution, which will now be formally adopted by the 193-member General Assembly in December, deepens international pressure on the government of Myanmar but is not legally binding.
For 15 years the UN Committee annually adopted a resolution denouncing Myanmar’s human rights record, but last year the European Union did not put forward a draft text due to reported progress in how Myanmar’s government has been dealing with the issue of the Rohingya under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Meanwhile, Myanmar’s representative also voiced objections to the resolution and asked for a vote to be called. In some cases, such as the recently adopted resolution on North Korea’s human rights abuses, the measure is adopted by consensus, although North Korea and a handful of other countries disassociated themselves from it.
“The draft resolution is, to say the least, flawed in its substance and dubious and questionable in intent,” the Myanmar representative said.
“It is based on one-sided accusations, and falsely claimed evidence, using controversial and self-designated nomenclature throughout…(The) draft resolution also undermines the sovereignty of a nation and is tantamount to insulting its people.”
Among those who abstained or voted against it, there are those that object to singling out countries when other U.N. mechanisms, such as the Human Rights Council, already exist.
On Thursday, Human Rights Watch on Thursday released a new 37-page report documenting rapes committed by Myanmar’s security forces based on interviews with 52 Rohingya women and girls who fled to Bangladesh. The organization has found that the abuses were violations of international law and amounted to crimes against humanity.

Source: APP