The UN human rights chief has called on the international community to take action to cut off the supply of weapons, jet fuel, and foreign currency to the Myanmar junta so that it cannot carry out atrocities against the people.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Friday, “I call again on the international community to refocus its efforts to prevent atrocities against all people of the country, including the Rohingya.”
He also said, “Countries should stop the military from getting access to arms, jet fuel, and foreign currency, which are essential to continuing the crackdown on civilians.”
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power from an elected government in a coup in 2021. The Muslim Rohingya have been persecuted for decades in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, and about 1 million of them live in the Bangladeshi border district of Cox’s Bazar. Most of them fled to Bangladesh in the face of military operations in 2017.
Myanmar’s military rulers view the Rohingya as foreign intruders and refuse to grant them citizenship.
“After decades of discrimination, persecution, forced mass displacement, and other serious human rights violations, the Rohingya are today largely confined to villages and detention camps,” said Volker Turk.
He also said, ‘I appeal to all member states to ensure international refugee protection for people fleeing persecution and conflict in Myanmar.
