Joint ministerial statement commemorating the onslaught on the Rohingya by the Myanmar military and the accompanying catastrophe on the fifth anniversary.
The High Representative for the European Union, the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States issued the joint statement below to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the onslaught on Rohingya by the Myanmar military.
Thousands of Rohingya men, women, and children were killed, raped, and subjected to other forms of torture five years ago when the Myanmar military attacked Rohingya communities in Rakhine.
As a result, over 700,000 Rohingya were forced to flee to Bangladesh, where they joined other Rohingya who had already fled earlier attacks and decades of systemic discrimination.
One of the greatest mass exodus of a minority in recent history was brought on by these abhorrent acts against the Rohingya.
The fact that repeated patterns of egregious human rights abuses and breaches have been documented by the UN Fact Finding Mission, many of which qualify as serious crimes under international law, worries us.
We also acknowledge other attempts to hold offenders responsible, such as those made by The Gambia before the International Court of Justice, which is now determining whether the crimes perpetrated by the Myanmar military against the Rohingya constituted genocide as well.
We repeat that the temporary measures order issued by the International Court of Justice must be followed by Myanma
The military coup d’état in February 2021 was orchestrated by the same individuals who carried out these despicable acts, and they have been responsible for decades of atrocities against political dissidents, vulnerable communities, and various ethnic and religious minorities across Myanmar.
The Rohingya people are themselves the victims of discrimination, systematic persecution, human rights abuses, and denial of access to essential services, including the right to citizenship.
For ten years, around 150,000 Rohingya have been imprisoned in camps in Rakhine, with no freedom of movement. Under the present circumstances, women and girls continue to face significant risks
As we commemorate five years since the terrible 2017 onslaught against the Rohingya, we salute the communities and pay tribute to all those who lost their lives.
We reaffirm our commitment to bringing those responsible for these wrongdoings accountable, and we thank the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar and others for their efforts in this direction.
We demand that the military dictatorship put an end to the atrocities and severe human rights violations that the Rohingya and other communities in Myanmar have been subjected to over many years.
We express our gratitude to Bangladesh and other hosting countries for their compassion in providing the Rohingya with vital assistance, and we continue to help Bangladesh in order to see to it that the needs and rights of all refugees and the affected host populations are satisfied.
We also value the crucial work done by humanitarian groups to provide support and protection for the Rohingya population.
At the same time, we urge the international community to assist host communities, secure justice for Rohingya victims, and provide the right circumstances for their safe, voluntarily, dignified, and long-term return to their villages.
The Rohingya must be substantively represented in conversations about Myanmar’s future.