Antonio Guterres noted “the unflagging aspirations for an inclusive future” for the Rohingya, who face widespread discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Most are denied citizenship and many other rights
Antonio Guterres noted “the unflagging aspirations for an inclusive future” for the Rohingya, who face widespread discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Most are denied citizenship and many other rights
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Myanmar’s military-installed government Wednesday to include ethnic Rohingya in a solution to the country’s political crisis.
He commented on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the start of a mass exodus by the Muslim minority to Bangladesh to escape a military crackdown in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state.
U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Mr. Guterres noted “the unflagging aspirations for an inclusive future” for the Rohingya, who face widespread discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Most are denied citizenship and many other rights.
The long-simmering conflict with the Rohingya exploded on August 25, 2017, when Myanmar’s military launched what it called a clearance campaign in Rakhine in response to attacks on police and border guards by a Rohingya militant group. More than 7,00,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh as troops allegedly committed mass rapes and killings and burned thousands of homes.
In January 2020, the International Court of Justice, the U.N.’s top court, ordered Myanmar to do all it could to prevent genocide against the Rohingya. Two days earlier, an independent commission set up by Myanmar’s government concluded there were reasons to believe security forces committed war crimes against the Rohingya — but not genocide.
In March 2022, the United States said the oppression of the Rohingya amounts to genocide after authorities confirmed accounts of mass atrocities against civilians by Myanmar’s military.
Mr. Guterres’ spokesperson said that “perpetrators of all international crimes committed in Myanmar
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