Very recently, the United Nations special envoy on human rights in Myanmar Yanghee lee based in Seoul told mediapersons and international community about the manner in which the Myanmar Government through its military forces has laid violent operations against the Rohingya Muslims which bear the evidence of massacre or ‘genocide’ of the Rohingyas.
The UN special envoy after visiting the refugee camps of Rohingyas in Bangladesh made it clear that nearly 700,000 Rohingyas have fled from their villages to Bangladesh after Myanmar military’s crackdown on them following attacks by the Rohingya insurgents on August 25 last. The UN special envoy made it clear before the media that the actions of Myanmar on Rohingya Muslim minority are crimes against humanity.
The UN special envoy after visiting the refugee camps of Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh made it clear that although she does not have sufficient evidences of ‘genocide’ of Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar administration until the matter is investigated into and brought to the notice of an International Tribunal by way of credible information but she said there are signs of mass killing and mass burial of the Rohingyas.
The envoy said she was refused her entry into Myanmar by the administration. She further added that she came across at least five mass graves in the Myanmar village of Gu dar pyin which certainly carry the evidence of massacre of Rohingya Muslims during military operations.
UN envoy lee emphatically told the media that regarding incidence of genocide of Rohingya Muslims, one can visit the villages of Myanmar and see things about the pattern of mass killings. She sought a probe into such crimes and particularly, in the areas in northern Rakhaine State of Myanmar where the Rohingyas live in large numbers.
In this backdrop, significantly it is heartening to note that regarding settlement of the Rohingya Muslims as refugees in India, the Supreme Court very recently seized the matter. The Government of India took a very tough stand and submitted before the court that India will not be a refugee settlement camp of migrants from different parts of the world. The apex court made it clear that the Rohingya refugee problem has to be decided on humanitarian angle on a larger canvas as a human rights issue.
Now, in view of this startling revelation by UN special envoy and the evidence about the mass extermination of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar through its military forces which compelled them to flee from their villages into Bangladesh and other countries where now they are living in refugee camps, the United Nations should take up this problem as human rights issue on priority basis. Significantly, the UN special envoy made it abundantly clear that the member States of the United Nations should come forward and join hands to protect Rohingya Muslims against the arbitrary actions of Myanmar’s military administration which amounts to crime against humanity.
(The writer is an ex-Special Judge, CBI, Bhubaneswar, Mob: 9437022723)