ARNA welcomes historic UN resolution on Myanmar

The resolution highlights the basic needs of the people of Myanmar, according to a statement issued by the alliance on Friday (Dec 23, 2022).

However, it failed to include stopping of arms transfer to the military junta, justice and accountability, and the gravest international crimes of genocide against the Rohingya people.

Since military coup in February 2021, the junta had killed hundreds of thousands of civilians, activists, politicians and students and detained a number of innocent people across the country.

In addition, many people that included children, women, and older people were killed by air strikes in the whole country, including ethnic areas.

It is appalling that fighter jets, fuels and weapons supplied by junta’s allies are being used in the killing of the innocent people of Myanmar, including Rohingya.

In April 2021, the ASEAN bloc agreed on the five-point consensus to put the country back on the path to peace, but, the military junta has failed to implement them till today.

In early 2020, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered provisional measures to protect the Rohingya people. But Rohingya’s situation in Myanmar remains unchanged in breach of the order.

Since last year, the junta has arrested more than 3,000 Rohingya fleeing persecution and adverse situation towards Southeast Asian countries were arrested and sentenced them two to five years imprisonment with hard labour. The recent military massacre of 13

Rohingya youths near Yangon, who were escaping the unbearable situation, was a worst carnage after 2017 Rohingya genocide.

The Burmese military has no genuine political will to repatriate the Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh since they could realise their criminal objective of eliminating the Rohingya population with impunity and continue violating the international law without consequences.

Those Rohingyas, who are still inside Arakan, are under the constant threat of genocide and, sometimes, stuck up in fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army resulting in their deaths and injuries.

ARNA urges the UN Security Council to put more significant actions on Myanmar military junta in order to help rebuild a stable Federal Democratic Union. ARNA calls on the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution to take decisive measures:

•    To seek justice and accountability to ensure victims see justice served and the cycle of violence is not repeated.

•    To guarantee Rohingya’s dignified and protected return to their protected homeland in Rakhine State, with ethnic and citizenship rights. And to ensure full compliance with the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

•    To refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to end impunity.

•    To prevent the junta from accessing the revenue of Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) and to stop transferring arms and supplying aviation fuel to the Myanmar junta.