The 29th Session of UN Human Rights Council in Geneva: Persecution of Rohingya and Rohingya Human Right issues in Myanmar continue to receive wide coverage

RB News

June 20, 2015

Director General of Arakan Rohingya Union addresses the OIC Ambassadorial Special Session

Geneva, Switzerland -- United Nations Human Rights Council continued to provide coverage on persecution of Rohingya ethnic minority and Rohingya Human Right issues in Myanmar on the second and third day of the HRC sessions. On the second day, June 16th, in the minority issues Session, several member States and NGO expressed serious concerns about the wide range of human right violations currently faced by the Rohingya people, stressing that the impact of such violations is taking a toll on the Rohingya population, thus resulting in a large scale exodus of Rohingya through the sea routes to Southeast Asian countries. The delegates also stated that the human trafficking and discovery of mass graves of Rohingya victims are the direct result of the persecution of Rohingya minority in Myanmar. On June 17th, in the Internally Displaced Persons session, the concerns over the dire condition in Rohingya IDP camps were strongly expressed by several delegates.

At the OIC Ambassadorial special session on June 17th, delegations from the 57-member states discussed the expediency in addressing the current humanitarian crises in Southeast Asia and the need for adequate humanitarian relief supplies in IDP camps. Several delegations had called for stepping up the engagement with the Government of Myanmar and to take concrete steps to find a solution to the citizenship and human right issues of the Rohingya.

Dr. Wakar Uddin, Director General of Arakan Rohingya Union, spoke on the current issues and the new developments on the ground and in Nay Pyi Taw. Dr. Uddin specifically addressed the issues of forced verification, the new green card/ID report, anti-Muslim and-Rohingya legislations, white cards, and voting rights. He further stressed the need for a strong concerted plan that involves the Government of Myanmar in the multi-national rescue operations at the sea. He stated that it is the responsibility of the Government of Myanmar to immediately repatriate the rescued Rohingya victims to their homes and villages. He said the government should return full and equal citizenship rights to Rohingya and re-instate their ethnic identity. 

Dr. Uddin appealed the international community to demand the Government of Myanmar to abandon the regional policy imposed on Rohingya. “Your Excellencies, besides these there is a regional rule in Arakan, arbitrarily imposed by the former military junta decades ago, that is the instrument for all the human rights violations such as restriction of movement, marriage, worship, higher education, and at least a dozen of other violations; these must be immediately removed and their basic rights reinstated. The international community must be firm with the Government of Myanmar in demanding the restatement of these basic human rights to Rohingya; how can there be any progress on the ground while committing these violations by the Government forces are still rampant - how long Rohingya people have to wait to get their rights back?” Dr. Uddin concluded.