Security Council met again on the Situation in Myanmar-Briefing by UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative of Secretary-General

UsanewsOnline.Com Desk, New York : 12 December, UN Security Council met again to discuss on the Situation in Myanmar. UN Under-Secretary-General (USG) for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman briefed the Council on this issue. This comes as a follow up to the Security Council’s ‘Presidential Statement’ on the situation in Myanmar adopted on 6 November, 2017, where UN Secretary-General had been mandated to brief on the issue after 30 days of the adoption of the Statement. Notably, adoption of the Presidential Statement had been one of the most important steps taken by the Security Council so far on Myanmar. This would remain as a recorded document of the Council.Ms. Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict also delivered a statement at the meeting. She gave a moving and horrific account of sexual atrocities perpetrated by members of Myanmar armed forces on Rohingya women and girls from her conversations with surviving victims during her recent visit to Cox’s Bazar. She said, “The forms of sexual violence I consistently heard about from survivors and witnesses included: rape, gang-rape by multiple soldiers, forced public nudity and humiliation, and sexual slavery in military captivity”.

Ms. Patten narrated heart-rending stories of outrageous sexual atrocities against many Rohingya women. Among them, some were held in captivity by members of the Myanmar Armed Forces for over 45 days and raped over and over again. The soldiers forcibly raped many girls in front of their husbands and fathers. Soldiers drowned babies in the wells in front of their mothers. Some mothers were gang-raped in front of their babies and afterwards the babies were thrown into the fire. Terming the Rohingya community as the most persecuted people on earth, Ms. Patten urged upon the Security Council to do everything in its power to immediately stop the atrocities.

In his Statement, Under-Secretary-General Jeffrey Feltman put forward some key recommendations to resolve the crisis. These are: 1) Returns must be supported by reconciliation efforts, and the time frame must allow for this and other measures to ensure that return is sustainable. Central to this is the implementation of the Rakhine Advisory Commission recommendations; 2) Returns should be to the ‘original place of residence’ or to a safe, secure place near to their destination of choice, as envisaged by the Arrangement.  It should not be to camps, however temporary; experience shows that camps lead to prolonged segregation; 3) The reference to freedom of movement in the arrangement is positive, but the qualifier ‘in conformity with existing laws and regulations’ which are currently extremely restrictive, is a serious limitation. Expanding freedom of movement is essential to achieving stated commitments on access to basic services and livelihoods; 4) Eligibility criteria for return must be applied in the broadest possible manner.  The current requirements (including documentary proof of residence) would be difficult for many refugees to meet; 5) Finally, experience on voluntary repatriation movements over the decades, underscores the important role that the UN, through UNHCR, can play in all aspects of a return operation.

The meeting was convened by Japan as the current President of the Security Council. Except from the members of the Council, Bangladesh and Myanmar were also given opportunity to deliver their statements on the subject matter.Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN Ambassador Masud Bin Momen delivered the statement on behalf of Bangladesh. He said, “Bangladesh continues to receive fresh arrivals of the Rohingya, with an average of 100-400 people on a daily basis. It appears that the situation in northern Rakhine State is still volatile”. He expressed concern over recurrent reports of arson in Rohingya localities in northern and central Rakhine State.

Ambassador Masud expressed hope that the Joint Working Group would be formed soon under the terms and conditions of the bilateral arrangement between Bangladesh and Myanmar which was signed on 23 November 2017 and the repatriation process, as pledged by Myanmar would also begin within the shortest possible time. He mentioned that the bilateral arrangement’s mandate is only limited to the possible voluntary repatriation of the Rohingya people, whereas the root causes and other related questions and issues would have to be addressed by Myanmar. In this regard, he stressed on international community’s continued support, vigilance and monitoring on the situation in the Rakhine state.

Ambassador Masud also attached importance on continued humanitarian assistance to the forcibly displaced Rohingya population, neutral and independent investigation and trial of the atrocities, and creating a congenial environment in the Rakhine state so that the Rohingyas could return and live with other communities there without facing any discrimination.

Every member of the Security Council spoke in the meeting. They highly praised Bangladesh for her continued humanitarian support to the forcibly displaced Rohingyas and pledged to stand beside Bangladesh in her efforts to resolve the crisis. The Council members expressed hope that the bilateral arrangement between Bangladesh and Myanmar would be successful. The moving account of Ms. Pramila Patten was noted by a number of Council members who referred to it in their statements. They emphasized on the early resolution of the crisis.

It is to be mentioned that Third Committee of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on ‘Situation of human rights in Myanmar’ on 16 November 2017 by an open vote. This resolution will be placed before General Assembly Plenary for final adoption soon. Besides, a Special Session of the UN Human Rights Council was convened in Geneva on 5 December 2017, where another resolution was adopted on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.