Myanmar rejects UN probe on Rohingya abuses

YANGON — Myanmar rejected Wednesday the findings of a United Nations probe alleging genocide by its military against the Rohingya, in a strident government response to a damning report on the crisis.

Myanmar has come under immense pressure this week over last year’s military crackdown that pushed more than 700,000 of the Muslim minority into Bangladesh.

Monday’s report by a UN fact-finding mission said there was evidence of genocide and crimes against humanity “perpetrated on a massive scale.”

In a session of the UN Security Council late Tuesday several countries — including the United States — called for Myanmar’s military leaders to face international justice.

But Myanmar on Wednesday rejected the remit of the UN mission and its findings.

“We didn’t allow the FFM (the UN Fact-Finding Mission) to enter into Myanmar. That’s why we don’t agree and accept any resolutions made by the Human Rights Council,” government spokesman Zaw Htay said, according to the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

He pointed to the formation of Myanmar’s own Independent Commission of Enquiry, which he said was set up to respond to “false allegations made by the UN agencies and other international communities.”

Mr. Zaw Htay also lashed out at Facebook for pulling down the pages of Myanmar’s army chief and other top military brass, saying that it could hamper the government’s efforts with “national reconciliation.”

The social media giant has admitted it was too slow to react to the crisis, which saw its platform — which is wildly popular in Myanmar — become an incubator of hate speech against the Rohingya. —