52nd regular session of the UN Human Rights Council
Item 2: Interactive dialogue on the report of the High Commissioner on the situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar
Oral statement delivered by Ahmed Adam
On behalf of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
6 March 2023
Mr. President,
We welcome the High Commissioner’s report.
More than two years into the Myanmar military’s failed coup attempt, the number of people including women and children killed in the junta’s desperate, brutal campaign against the democratic resistance continue to mount. More than a million people, especially from ethnic communities, have been displaced by the junta’s indiscriminate airstrikes and systematic atrocities against civilians, including burning of entire villages, aerial attacks on schools, hospitals and acts of terror including beheadings. Those displaced remain deliberately cut off from lifesaving humanitarian aid. Killings in custody, and torture and sexual and gender-based violence against those arbitrarily detained for peacefully resisting the junta continue to rise.
We welcome the principled decisions of a few States to impose sanctions on the junta. But this is far from enough. The same UN agencies and vast majority of its member states that witnessed the Rohingya genocide and did nothing to stop it, are once again watching on as the same military, led by the same man, commits widespread human rights atrocities against Myanmar’s population. Their actions continue to lend support and legitimacy to the junta further entrenching its impunity and obstructing Myanmar people’s pursuit of freedom, justice and democracy. .
We are deeply concerned about the recent announcement of funding shortages to provide already inadequate food rations and lifesaving aid for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. This is yet another shameful reminder of the world’s apathy towards Rohingyas’ longstanding demands for dignity and justice. We call on all member states to back your words of concern with real action and financial support to Rohingya refugees, as well as to IDPs inside the country, to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe.
The Council, and the UN as a whole, must take concrete action to advance accountability through all possible avenues, protect human rights of the Myanmar people, and support their will for federal democracy.
The UN must further end its repeated cycles of failures as its agencies continue to fall short in addressing the root causes of the humanitarian and human rights crises in Myanmar.
Thank you.