United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has warned of the dangers of returning the Rohingya to Myanmar amid what he described as a “tragic and unprecedented” deterioration in the country’s human rights situation.
Turk said the Rohingya are engaged in a “bitter struggle” for survival as systematic violence by parties to the conflict continues to escalate.
Speaking before the 63rd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Türk said the Rohingya continue to face serious human rights violations, including indiscriminate attacks, forced recruitment and restrictions on freedom of movement.
He warned that current conditions make any prospect of refugee repatriation unsafe and that the situation fails to meet even the minimum standards required for a return in safety and dignity.
In a related development, Nicholas Koumjian, head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), delivered a formal briefing to the Council, saying the mechanism has intensified its efforts to collect and analyze evidence of crimes committed against the Rohingya.
Koumjian confirmed that information and evidence gathered by the mechanism are being shared directly with the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice to support judicial proceedings, including the case concerning the prevention of genocide.
He also noted the growing use of new technologies in connection with abuses, alongside inflammatory hate speech. He stressed that documenting these crimes is intended to help ensure that those responsible for serious violations do not escape accountability and are brought before international justice.
The roots of the current Rohingya crisis date back to August 2017, when Myanmar’s military launched a large-scale campaign against the Rohingya that included the destruction and burning of villages, the killing of thousands of people and widespread sexual violence against women.
The violence forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh in events that international reports have described as amounting to genocide.
The latest warnings come amid the continuing deterioration of the humanitarian and security situation in Myanmar following the military coup carried out by the armed forces in February 2021.
