UN meeting on Myanmar spotlights split in Security Council

NEW YORK: The United Nations Security Council’s first open meeting on Myanmar in eight years highlighted the body’s deep divisions: China and Russia supported the South-East Asian country’s government while the United States, Britain and France demanded an end to ethnic cleansing of its Rohingya Muslim minority.

With the number of Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh since Aug 25 now topping 500,000, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres urged the UN’s most powerful body on Thursday to take strong action.

He also called on Myanmar’s authorities to halt military operations, allow “unfettered access” for humanitarian aid and ensure that all those who fled could go home.

US ambassador Nikki Haley, using Myanmar’s former name of Burma, told council members: “We cannot be afraid to call the actions of the Burmese authorities what they appear to be: a brutal, sustained campaign to cleanse the country of an ethnic minority.

“The time for well-meaning, diplomatic words in this council has passed. We must now consider action against Burmese security forces who are implicated in abuses and stoking hatred among their fellow citizens.”

Haley urged all countries to suspend the supply of weapons to the country’s military until its members were held accountable for the “bru- tal assault” on the Rohingya.

The United States, Britain and France were joined by many council members in demanding an immediate end to the violence and a strong council response.

A global coalition of 88 civil society and human rights organisations urged the Security Council to step up pressure on Myanmar’s authorities “by seriously considering options such as an arms embargo against the military and targeted financial sanctions against individuals responsible or crimes and serious abuses”.

But the prospect of a strong response from the council appeared unlikely after China and Russia supported the government’s approach to tackling the crisis.

China’s deputy UN ambassador Wu Haitao, whose country has close ties to Myanmar, urged the international community “to view the difficulties and challenges confronting the Myanmar government through objective optics, exercise patience, and provide support and help”.

Wu stressed that “many of the differences and antagonisms” in Rakhine state had been building up over a long time and “there is no quick fix”.

“All parties should work constructively to help reinforce this momentum, de-escalate the situation and alleviate the humanitarian conditions step by step,” he added.

Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia warned that “excessive pressure” on Myanmar’s government “could only aggravate the situation in the country and around it”.

There was no alternative to resolving “the longstanding and complicated crisis” in Rakhine through political means and a dialogue among representatives of all nationalities and faiths,” he said.

“We need to stop any kind of violence from any side and the rhetoric which fuels it.”

Nebenzia and Gutteres both warned that the Rohingya crisis could spread.

“Failure to address this systematic violence could result in a spillover into central Rakhine, where 250,000 more Muslims could potentially face displacement,” Gutteres said. — AP