UN condemns violence in Myanmar
NEW YORK: The UN Security Council has unanimously approved a statement strongly condemning the violence that has caused more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee from Myanmar to Bangladesh, a significant step that still fell short of a stronger resolution that Western nations wanted but China opposed.
The presidential statement calls on Myanmar’s government “to ensure no further excessive use of military force in Rakhine State” and take immediate steps to respect human rights.
It expresses “grave concern” at reports of human rights violations in Rakhine by Myanmar’s security forces against the Rohingya. These include “the systematic use of force and intimidation, killing of men, women and children, sexual violence and ... the destruction and burning of homes and property,” it said
Britain initially circulated a Security Council resolution with similar language, backed by the US, France and other council members. But resolutions are legally binding and diplomats said China, a neighbor and ally of Myanmar, was strongly opposed. China is one of the five countries that have veto power on the council.
So Britain and France turned the resolution into a presidential statement, which becomes part of the council’s record but does not have the legal clout of a resolution.
Nonetheless, the statement still represents the strongest council pronouncement on Myanmar in nearly 10 years, and reflects widespread international concern at the plight of the Rohingya, who face official and social discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.
French Ambassador Francois Delattre said the Security Council sent “a strong and unanimous message to end the ethnic cleansing that is taking place before our eyes in Myanmar and recreate the political momentum in this country.”
Britain’s deputy UN ambassador, Jonathan Allen, called it “a first step” and said the council will judge Myanmar “on how they act.”
Both Delattre and Allen decried the desperate humanitarian situation for the Rohingya, with the French ambassador calling it “one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time.”