[The General Assembly passed a resolution
denouncing human rights abuses against Rohingya Muslims and other minority
groups.]
By The Associated Press
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A
Rohingya refugee in the Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh last year.
Credit
Rebecca Conway for The New York Times
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UNITED
NATIONS — The United Nations
General Assembly has approved a resolution strongly condemning rights abuses
against Rohingya Muslims and other minority groups in Myanmar, including
arbitrary arrests, torture, rape and deaths in detention.
In a 134-9 vote with 28 abstentions on
Friday, the body approved the resolution, which also calls on Myanmar’s
government to take urgent measures to combat incitement of hatred against the
Rohingya and other minorities in the states of Rakhine, Kachin and Shan.
General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but they often reflect
world opinion.
Myanmar, where most citizens are Buddhist,
has long considered the Rohingya to be “Bengalis” from Bangladesh even though
their families have lived in the country for generations. Nearly all Rohingya
have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering the group
stateless, and they are also denied freedom of movement and other basic rights.
The Rohingya crisis exploded in August 2017,
when Myanmar’s military launched what it called a clearance campaign in Rakhine
State in response to an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group. The campaign led
to an exodus of Rohingya to Bangladesh and to accusations that security forces
had committed mass rapes and killings and burned thousands of homes.
Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, U
Hau Do Suan, called the resolution “another classic example of double
standards” and “selective and discriminatory application of human rights norms
designed to exert unwanted political pressure on Myanmar.”
He said the resolution did not attempt to
find a solution to the complex situation and refused to recognize government
efforts to address the challenges.
The resolution, the ambassador said, “will
sow seeds of distrust and will create further polarization of different
communities in the region.”“
The resolution raised alarm at the continuing
influx of Rohingya Muslims into neighboring Bangladesh over the last four
decades. The displaced now number 1.1 million, including 744,000 who arrived
since August 2017 “in the aftermath of atrocities committed by the security and
armed forces of Myanmar.”
The Assembly also cited an independent
international fact-finding mission’s documentation “of gross human rights
violations and abuses suffered by Rohingya Muslims and other minorities” by
security forces, which the mission said “undoubtedly amount to the gravest
crimes under international law.”
The resolution called for an immediate
cessation of fighting and hostilities.
It reiterated “deep distress” at reports that
unarmed people in Rakhine State continue to be subjected to abuses by the
military and security forces.
The resolution also called for Myanmar’s
forces to protect all people, and for urgent steps to ensure punishment for
rights violations.
It also urged the government “to expedite
efforts to eliminate statelessness and the systematic and institutionalized
discrimination” against the Rohingya and other minorities, to dismantle camps
for Rohingyas and others displaced in Rakhine, and “to create the conditions
necessary for the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of all
refugees, including Rohingya Muslim refugees.”
It noted that the Rohingya have twice refused
to return to Myanmar because of the absence of these conditions.
