Myanmar: Act Immediately to Protect Displaced People's Rights
Publisher: Michel Gabaudan and Melanie Teff, Refugees International
Date: 2014
Topics: Conflict Prevention, Dispute Resolution/Mediation, Humanitarian Assistance, Weapons, Waste, and Pollution
Countries: Myanmar, Sri Lanka
As Myanmar continues its renewed engagement with the international community, it must begin to address the serious violations of the rights of ethnic minorities that plague the country. Nearly two years after violence erupted in June 2012, almost 140,000 Muslims (primarily Rohingyas) remain displaced in Rakhine State in conditions of total segregation and marginalization from the Rakhine Buddhist majority. Like the hundreds of thousands of non-displaced Rohingyas in northern Rakhine State, they remain subject to extremely abusive restrictions on their freedom and exposed to violent attacks.
At the same time, in Kachin State, nearly three years after a ceasefire between government and rebel forces was broken, civilians are not being protected and around 100,000 people are displaced with no imminent prospects of return. It is in this climate that the country will undergo a census at the end of this month.
It is time for the international community to change its ad hoc approach to Myanmar. Key donors and the United Nations must coordinate their advocacy and use consistent messaging to push the Myanmar government to address the root causes of the abuses suffered by ethnic minorities.