Violence against Rohingya ‘may be genocide’ – MPs

THE violence against the Rohingya in Burma “amounts to ethnic cleansing and may also constitute crimes against humanity and even genocide”, a cross-party group of MPs has said.

In a blunt assessment of the British Government’s approach, the Foreign Affairs Committee concluded that its “hesitation and equivocation” over classifying the violence had been “frustratingly confusing”.

The report, entitled Violence in Rakhine State and the UK’s Response, criticised the Government’s failure to undertake its own legal analysis, noting: “This was not befitting its leading international role and it should immediately investigate and conduct its own assessment of the situation.”

It described international action as “inadequate”, adding that the UK “bears some responsibility for failing to turn international outrage into tangible action and improvements on the ground”.

The document argued it was wrong for the UK to “continue engagement with Burma with no demonstration of censure” and backed sanctions on senior military figures and businesses if “substantial improvement” was not secured soon.

The committee said it was “disappointed” State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi had “not shown the leadership that was hoped for and needed” and branded her position “compromised”.

The British Government, it noted, “deserves credit for its quick and generous provision of aid” but said it needed to make a long-term plan, adding “any repatriation must be safe and voluntary”.

It called on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to “learn lessons on atrocity prevention” from the crisis and urged the Government to adopt a “more hard-headed” approach.

Tory Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat said: “We have heard truly appalling accounts of violence against the Rohingya in Burma, which we consider to amount to ethnic cleansing or worse.

“The UK has led the international response and has achieved some progress with its provision of humanitarian aid and in securing a UN Presidential Statement, but this is not enough. Atrocity crimes require a co-ordinated international response.

“The [Asia and the Pacific] minister Mark Field and the Government overall have made sincere efforts and have become noticeably tougher in their language and more willing to consider further action in recent weeks. But it has been over three months since the violence began and the Government has been too slow properly to call the violence what it is.

“The Government has also been remiss in not conducting its own legal analysis of the evidence.”