Myanmar rejects UN accusations of genocide

Myanmar on Wednesday rejected a UN report that said there was evidence of genocide in the military operation carried out by the Myanmar government against the Muslim Rohingya minority.

"We didn't allow the FFM (Fact Finding Mission) to enter into Myanmar, that's why we don't agree and accept any resolutions made by the Human Rights Council," Myanmar's newspaper Global New Light quoted government spokesperson Zaw Htay as saying.

On Monday, UN experts reported that there is evidence of intentional genocide and crimes against humanity perpetrated on a large scale.

The mission condemned the government of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi for failing to stop the violence and recommended the establishment of an international court to investigate and prosecute the alleged perpetrators belonging to the armed forces.

Htay said that the government has already formed an independent commission to "respond to false allegations made by the UN agencies and other international communities".

Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingyas as one of the nation's ethnic groups but considers them to be illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, subjecting them to various kinds of discrimination.

Both the army and the Myanmar government have rejected all accusations of human rights violations.

Humanitarian NGO, Doctors Without Borders, estimated that at least 6,700 Rohingyas, including 730 children under the age of five, died as a result of the violence unleashed by the military offensive.

Soldiers have been accused of committing murders, mass rapes and burning the homes of the Rohingyas in Myanmar's Rakhine state, the home of this ethnic minority community.

--IANS

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