UN council weakens response to Myanmar after China objects

NEW YORK: The UN Security Council has dropped plans to adopt a resolution demanding an end to the violence in Myanmar in the face of strong opposition from China and instead opted for a statement, diplomats said.

The statement calls for an end to the violence, full access for humanitarian aid workers to Myanmar’s Rakhine state and for the return of hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohyinga who have fled to Bangladesh.

It does not threaten sanctions against Myanmar’s military.

Britain and France circulated a draft resolution last month, but diplomats said veto power China, a supporter of Myanmar’s former ruling junta, had argued that a resolution was not the appropriate response to the crisis.

Following negotiations, China agreed to the formal statement to be adopted, which includes almost all of the demands of the proposed resolution but does not carry the same weight.

“The important thing is the content,” said British Deputy UN Ambassador Jonathan Allen.

“Gaining a very strong, unanimous statement I think was the real prize here.”

Since late August, more than 600,000 Rohingya have been driven from their homes by an army campaign in Rakhine state that the UN has denounced as ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar authorities say the military operation is aimed at rooting out Rohingya militants who staged attacks on police posts.