UN urges Myanmar to allow Muslim minority to call itself Rohingya

Rasa - The UN General Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution urging Myanmar to grant citizenship to its Rohingya Muslim minority and grant them equal access to services.

News ID: 1934

Date: 31 December 2014 - 14:10

RNA - According to Rasa News, the 1.3 million Rohingyas are denied citizenship under national law and are effectively stateless and have almost no rights. Myanmar authorities want to officially categorize them as "Bengalis," implying they are illegal migrants from neighboring Bangladesh.

The non-binding measure was adopted by consensus in the 193-nation assembly, a month after it was approved by the assembly's rights committee. The resolution expresses "serious concern" over the plight of the Rohingya in Rakhine state, where 140,000 people live in squalid camps.

After Myanmar started a transition from dictatorship to democracy in 2011, newfound freedom of expression fanned the flames of hatred against the Rohingyas by the Buddhist majority. Violence by Buddhist mobs left up to 280 people dead — most of them members of the religious minority — and chased another 140,000 from their homes. The Rohingyas now live under apartheid-like conditions in camps or in restricted villages in Rakhine state.

The General Assembly urged the government to allow the Muslim minority to call itself Rohingya.

It urged Myanmar to ensure that the Rohingyas have equal access to services such as health and education, and to address the root causes of violence and discrimination against them.

It also called on the government to take measures to ensure that the Rohingyas can safely return to their communities, to conduct independent investigations into rights abuses, "and to promote peaceful coexistence."

The General Assembly has also urged the government "to step up its efforts to end remaining human rights violations and abuses, including arbitrary arrest and detention, forced displacement, rape and other forms of sexual violence."

The resolution also addressed international concerns over next year's presidential election, saying Myanmar should ensure that it is "credible, inclusive and transparent," and allow "all candidates to fairly contest" the vote.

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