UN: Over 500K Rohingya in Myanmar at ‘serious risk’ of genocide

ROHINGYA minorities remaining in Myanmar st i l l face a “ser ious r isk of genocide”, UN invest igators sa id on Monday, warning t hat t he repat r iat ion of a mil l ion a l ready dr iven f rom t he count r y by t he a rmy remains “impossible”.

The fact-finding mission to Myanmar, set up by t he Human Rights Council, last yea r bra nded t he a rmy operat ions in 2017 as “genocide” a nd ca l led for t he prosecut ion of top genera ls, including a r my chief Min Aung Hla ing.

Some 740,000 Rohing ya fled burning v i llages, br inging accounts of murder, rape a nd tor ture over t he border to sprawling ref ugee ca mps in Bangladesh, where sur v ivors of prev ious waves of persecut ion were a lready la ng uishing.

But in a damning repor t, t he UN tea m sa id t he 600,000 Rohing ya st i l l inside Myanmar’s Ra k hine state remain in deter iorat ing a nd “deplorable” condit ions.

“Myanmar continues to harbour genocida l intent a nd t he Rohing ya remain under ser ious r isk of genocide,” t he i nvest igators sa id in t heir fina l repor t on Myanmar, due to be presented on Tuesday in Geneva.

The count r y is “deny ing wrongdoing, dest roy ing ev idence, ref using to conduct ef fect ive i nvest igat ions a nd clea r i ng, ra zing, confiscat ing a nd bui lding on la nd f rom which it displaced Rohing ya”, it sa id.

Rohing ya were liv ing in “inhumane” condit ions, t he repor t cont inued, adding more t han 40,000 st r uctures had been dest royed in t he 2017 crackdow n.

The mission reiterated ca l ls for t he UN Secu r it y Counci l to refer Myanmar to t he Inter nat iona l Cr i mina l Cour t ( ICC) or to set up a t r ibuna l, l i ke for t he for mer Yugoslav ia a nd Rwanda.

It sa id it had a confidentia l list of more t han 100 names, including of ficia ls, suspected of being involved in genocide, cr imes aga inst humanit y a nd war crimes, i n addit ion to t he si x genera ls named publicly last yea r.

The repor t a lso repeated ca l ls for foreig n governments a nd companies to sever a l l business t ies wit h t he milita r y, urg i ng a “moratorium” on invest ment a nd development assista nce in Ra k hine state.

The Muslim communit y has long been subjected to t ig ht movement rest r ict ions, making it dif ficult or impossible to access hea lt hca re, work a nd educat ion.

The Rohing ya a re accused of being i l lega l immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh a nd so a re denied cit i zenship in Buddhistmajorit y Myanmar.

The a rmy just ified t he crackdow n as a means of root ing out Rohing ya insurgents.

Bangladesh a nd Myanmar signed a repat r iat ion dea l t wo yea rs ago, but v i r t ua l ly no ref ugees have returned to date.

The invest igators descr ibed condit ions in Myanmar as “unsafe, unsusta inable a nd impossible” for ret urns to ta ke place.

Nearly 130,000 Rohing ya have been t rapped in ca mps in cent ra l Ra k hine since a prev ious bout of v iolence seven yea rs ago.

Described as “open-a ir prisons” by Amnest y Inter nat iona l, people t here remain relia nt on humanitaria n a id a nd a re ra rely g ra nted per mission to leave.

Those outside t he ca mps fa re l it t le better, needing specia l aut horisat ion – a nd of ten hef t y br ibes – to leave t heir v i l lage boundaries.

Their homes flattened by bul ldozers a nd la nd commandeered, ref ugees i n Bangladesh fea r t hey wil l be subjected to t he sa me, or even worse, t reat ment if t hey ret urn to t he processing ca mps built by Myanmar.

The UN tea m a lso accused t he a rmy of f resh “war cr imes”, including forced labour a nd tor t ure, aga i nst civ i l ia ns i n t he nor t h of Ra k hine state.

The a rea has once aga in become embroi led in conflict as t he milita r y wages war on t he Ara ka n Army (A A), rebels fight ing for t he r ig hts of et hnic Ra k hine Buddhists.

Myanmar milita r y spokesman Brigadier Genera l Zaw Min Tun rejected t he tea m’s findings, ca l ling t hem “one-sided”.

“Instead of making biased accusat ions, t hey should go onto t he g round to see t he rea lit y,” Zaw Min Tun sa id.

The UN invest igators have never been g ra nted permission to enter Myanmar or access Ra k hine.

The team has handed it s repor t to an i nvest igat ive panel, which a ims to bui ld up ev idence to support a ny f ut ure prosecut ion.

“The sca nda l of i nter nat iona l inact ion has to end,” mission ex per t Christopher Sidot i sa id.

“Unless t he United Nat ions a nd t he i nter nat iona l communit y ta ke ef fect ive act ion t his t i me, t his sad histor y is dest i ned to be repeated.”