UN envoy demands accountability over Rohingya crisis

Myanmar should bring to justice the perpetrators of the Rohingya crisis that led to the exodus of hundreds of thousands of members of the Muslim minority community to Bangladesh since August 2017, a top UN envoy said.

In a statement late Thursday, Christine Schraner Burgener, the UN Special Envoy for Myanmar, insisted accountability would lead to genuine reconciliation in Rakhine state, which has been home to the Rohingya for centuries, reports Efe news.

More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled across the border following an offensive launched by the Myanmar army on August 25 last year in the Rakhine region after Rohingya rebels had carried out a series of attacks on government posts.

Burgener met Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, army head, Min Aung Hlaing and other government representatives during the visit which began Tuesday and ended on Thursday.

Burgener also urged Myanmar for a credible investigation into the crisis and offered the collaboration of UN workers to assist local authorities.

Burgener would also be travelling to Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh for a comprehensive understanding of the crisis.

The UN and other human rights organisations have repeatedly called out the Rohingya crisis for its rights abuses, including murders, rapes, loot, torching of entire villages.

Outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, had called the military campaign a textbook example of ethnic cleansing, bordering on genocide.

Myanmar considers the Rohingya illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, and subjects them to various restrictions, including limiting their movement within the country.

--IANS

ksk/bg