A key United Nations committee has overwhelmingly approved a resolution strongly condemning the continuing "gross human rights violations and abuses" against Rohingya Muslims who are treated as outsiders in Myanmar and were victims of a brutal campaign by the country's military.
The General Assembly's human rights committee approved the resolution by a vote of 142-10, with 26 abstentions. It is virtually certain to be formally adopted by the 193-member world body in December.
Among those voting against the resolution were Myanmar neighbours China, Cambodia and Laos along with Russia. Bangladesh, which hosts 1.1 million Rohingya refugees, voted in favour.
The resolution expresses deep concern that violence by Myanmar's military against the Rohingya has forced over 723,000 people to flee to Bangladesh since August 2017.
A Rohingya refugee in the Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh. About 2,200 Rohingya Muslims who fled violence in Myanmar last year are set to be repatriated. Source: (Rebecca Conway/The New York Times)
It urgently calls on Myanmar's government to end discrimination and provide a path to citizenship for the embattled minority.
Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long considered the Rohingya to be "Bengalis" from Bangladesh even though their families have lived in the country for generations. Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless, and they are also denied freedom of movement and other basic rights.
The latest crisis began with attacks by an underground Rohingya insurgent group on Myanmar security personnel in August 2017 in northern Rakhine State. Myanmar's military responded with a brutal campaign and is accused of mass rape, killings and the burning of thousands of homes.
The resolution, sponsored by the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the European Union and Canada, reiterates "deep distress" at reports that unarmed Rohingya are still being subjected to excessive use of force and rights violations by Myanmar's military and security forces, including killings and rapes.
A boy looks from a police truck at the KyaukTan township, south of Yangon, Myanmar. More than 100 Rohingyas have been arrested on a shore in KyaykTan township. Source: EPA
The resolution expresses "grave concern" at the findings of the UN fact-finding mission on Myanmar, which concluded that some top Myanmar military leaders should be prosecuted for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Rohingya.
It strongly condemns all rights abuses set out in the commission's report and calls for "a full and independent investigation" of human rights abuses against the Rohingya and other minorities.
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