Burma Campaign UK is calling on the British government to back a UN Commission of Inquiry into the human rights situation in Rakhine State, Burma.
Last week a major report came out which found ‘strong evidence’ that genocide is being committed against the ethnic Rohingya of Burma. The report, a legal analysis by the Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School, and the human rights organisation Fortify Rights, called for a UN Commission of Inquiry into the human rights situation in Rakhine State, where most Rohingya in Burma live.
Evidence compiled by Human Rights Watch in 2013 indicated state involvement in crimes against the Rohingya which meet the definition of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
Burma Campaign UK has been campaigning for the establishment of an international investigation into human rights violations against the Rohingya since 2012. The Burmese government is using a combination of human rights violations and impoverishment to try to drive the ethnic Rohingya out of Burma.
A UN Commission of Inquiry could investigate whether genocide, ethnic cleansing and other violations of international law has been or is taking place, identify those responsible, and recommend ways to hold them to account. A UN inquiry would be a step towards ending the escalating repression of the Rohingya.
So far though, the British government has refused to support a UN inquiry into human rights violations against the Rohingya.
“Every time there is genocide or ethnic cleansing, the international community says never again, and then lets it happen again,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “With credible experts warning of the possibility of genocide, or that genocide may be happening, the British government should be backing a UN Inquiry to establish what is going on and what action should be taken. It is not credible for the British government to say that the Burmese government should investigate what is going on. That’s equivalent to asking a murderer to investigate their own crime.”
Burma Campaign UK is asking its supporters to email British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond urging him to back a UN Inquiry. The online action is here.
