Joint Statement
The undersigned 201 civil society organizations strongly condemn UN’s participation in the so-called ‘pilot project’ to repatriate Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar. The undersigned organizations are appalled by the UN’s clandestine participation and involvement in facilitating a visit of Myanmar military junta to Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. The UN agencies that were involved in the visit reportedly removed UN markings from the boats which were used to transport members of the junta to Cox’s Bazar. This is yet another extension of the long-standing pattern of the UN’s deliberately opaque involvement in the attempts to forcibly repatriate Rohingya refugees in absence of conditions in Myanmar for their safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return. This exposes the UN’s lack of so-called “neutrality” in Myanmar, and its ongoing failure to uphold basic humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality and “do no harm”, further eroding Myanmar people’s trust in the work of the UN.
The most recent visit of the junta to Cox’s Bazar on 15 March 2023 as part of this ‘pilot project’ for repatriation which took place reportedly with participation of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) is a result of a bilateral agreement between the illegal Myanmar military junta and Bangladesh, mediated by the Chinese Government. As the Special Rapporteur has described in his most recent conference paper, the Myanmar military junta’s attempt to seize power from legitimately elected representatives of the people of Myanmar elected in the 2020 General Election “was illegal, and its claim as Myanmar’s government is illegitimate.”
The UN Secretary-General must immediately intervene to prevent Rohingya survivors of genocide from being sent back to the killing fields. Rohingya in Rakhine State continue to be persecuted, denied their right to citizenship under a system of apartheid. They are confined to camps without freedom of movement and cut off from access to food and essential services including health, education and livelihood. The same perpetrators of genocide and crimes against humanity continue to commit atrocity crimes with total impunity throughout the country since the attempted coup of 1 February 2021. Prior to the attempted coup, they have committed genocide against Rohingya and crimes against humanity and war crimes against other ethnic minorities for decades, as documented by the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission.
The Secretary-General must also urgently investigate the involvement of UNHCR and WFP in the pilot repatriation project. Importantly, the Secretary-General must develop an action plan that meaningfully and urgently implements the recommendations of the “Rosenthal Report” which found systemic and institutional failures on the part of the UN in Myanmar leading up to and during the genocide in 2017. The 2022 update by the Secretary-General on the “Progress made in the implementation of follow-up action to the recommendations” of the Rosenthal Report failed to address the grave issues specific to Myanmar that were identified in the Rosenthal Report. The report did not satisfy the UN Human Rights Council’s call for a “comprehensive” investigation and did not reflect the extraordinary gravity of UN’s systemic failure in Myanmar.
The internal communication from the UN’s top official, as outlined by the Myanmar Accountability Project, exposes the UNHCR’s willingness to capitulate to the genocidal military junta despite “UNHCR’s assessment that conditions in Rakhine State (to which they will be returned) are currently not conducive to the safe and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees.” The UNHCR’s decision to prioritize its relationship with the military junta and the Bangladeshi Government above safety, security and revictimization of Rohingya refugees points to the broader UN approach which is completely out of touch with the reality on the ground. Rather than protecting refugees, the agency is therefore repeating its past mistakes by putting the lives of refugees at risk.
The Rosenthal Report also speaks to the failure of the UN’s collective membership, represented by the UN Security Council, that did not act to provide support to the Secretariat and more importantly, the victims of genocide, when such backing was essential. Yet, over the five years since the genocide, we have yet to see a UN Security Council resolution that imposes a global arms embargo and targeted sanctions against the military and refers the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court.
The current situation of the Rohingya cannot be divorced from the wider political, humanitarian and human rights crises in Myanmar, which are caused by the very perpetrators of genocide. The Rohingya’s long and immensely difficult plight cannot be resolved by yielding to the demands of the junta and returning them into the hands of perpetrators of their genocide. It must be addressed with meaningful participation of Rohingya themselves in any decision making that involves their lives and future and by robust and strong actions to end the military’s impunity by pursuing justice and accountability for the victims and survivors.
The UN must also ensure accountability for the repeated cycles of individual and institutional failures within its system at the highest levels.
It is time that the UN acts to end its shameful systemic and structural failures and support the victims and survivors of genocide and the people of Myanmar instead of the war criminals and the genocidal junta. In this respect, we call on the UN Secretary-General to investigate the operations of UN agencies in Myanmar and ensure that their involvement and contribution do not lead to further human rights violations of the people of Myanmar.
For more information, please contact:
- Khin Ohmar, Progressive Voice; info@progressive-voice.org
- Tun Khin, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK; tunkhin80@gmail.com
- Nang Moet Moet, Women’s League of Burma; secretariat@womenofburma.org
- Chris Gunness, Myanmar Accountability Project; cgunness@outlook.com, +447587698990
Signed by 201 civil society organizations including 30 civil society organizations who have chosen to not disclose their names:
- 8888 Generation (New Zealand)
- Action Against Myanmar Military Coup (Sydney)
- Action Committee for Democracy Development (Coalition of 14 grassroots networks)
- Active Youths (Kalay)
- Ah Nah Podcast – Conversations with Myanmar
- La. Ka (12) Hta Khwe. Primary Education Student Union
- All Burma Democratic Front in New Zealand
- All Burma Indigenous People Alliance
- All Religions Strike Column
- ALTSEAN-Burma
- Arakan CSO Network
- Arakan Time Rohingya Daily News
- Asian Dignity Initiative
- Rohingya Human Rights Center
- Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
- Association of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters
- Association Suisse Birmanie (ASB)
- Athan – Freedom of Expression Activist Organization
- Auckland Kachin Community NZ
- Auckland Zomi Community
- Aung Myay Thar Zan Education Schools Strike Column
- Aung Pin Lae Main Strike Column
- Ayeyarwaddy west Development Organization (AWDO, Magway Region)
- AYN Ayeyarwady Youth Network
- Blooming Padauk
- Burma Action Ireland
- Burma Affairs and Conflict Study – BACS
- Burma Campaign UK
- Burma Civil War Museum (BCM)
- Burma Human Rights Network
- Burma Support
- Burmese Community Group (Manawatu, NZ)
- Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK
- Burmese Rohingya Welfare Organisation New Zealand
- Burmese Women’s Union
- Cambodian Americans and Friends for Democracy and Human Right Advocate, CA
- Campaign for Popular Democracy (CPD), Thailand
- CDM Support Team Mandalay (CSTM)
- Chan Mya Thar Si Township People Strike Column
- Chin Community of Auckland
- Civil Information Network – CIN
- Cooperative University Student Strike Column
- Courage Fund, Cambodia
- CRPH & NUG Supporters Ireland
- CRPH Funding Ireland
- CRPH, NUG Support Team Germany-Deutschland
- Daung Sit Thi
- Dawei Development Association DDA
- Doh Atu – Ensemble pour le Myanmar
- Education Family (Anti – Fascists Education Strike Columns Coordination Committee)
- Educational Initiatives Prague
- Equality Myanmar
- Ethnic Youth General Strike Committee
- Federal FM (Mandalay)
- Federal Myanmar Benevolence Group (NZ)
- Finland-Myanmar Association
- Free Rohingya Coalition
- Future Thanlwin
- Generation Wave
- German Solidarity with Myanmar Democracy eV
- Global Myanmar Spring Revolution (GMSR)
- Grass-root People
- Human Rights Educators Network
- Human Rights Foundation of Monland
- International Association, Myanmar-Switzerland (IAMS)
- India For Myanmar
- Info Birmanie
- Japan Myanmar Help Network (comprising of over 40 youth groups in Japan)
- Justice 4 Rohingya UK
- Justice for Myanmar
- Kachin Women’s Association Thailand
- Karen Environmental and Social Action Network
- Karen Human Rights Group
- Karen Peace Support Network
- Karen Swedish Community
- Karen Women’s Organization
- Karenni Civil Society Network
- Karenni Human Rights Group (KnHRG)
- Karenni National Women Organization
- Karenni Society New Zealand
- Kyae Lak Myay
- Kyaukse University Students’ Union
- Land In Our Hands
- LGBTIQ Strike of Mandalay
- Maha Aung Myay Township People Collective Strike Column
- Mandalar University Student Strike Column
- Mandalay Alliance Strike Collective Column
- Mandalay Based People Strike Column
- Mandalay Civil Society Organizations
- Mandalay Engineer Group
- Mandalay Engineer United Force
- Mandalay Regional Youth Association (MRYA)
- Mandalay University Student Alumni Union
- Mandalay Wholesale Strike Column
- Mandalay Youth Strike Column
- Me Boun Foundation
- Medical Family – Mandalay
- Metta Campaign Mandalay
- MIIT Student Strike Column
- Minbu Farmer Group
- Minhla Development Organization
- Muslim Youth Union
- Mya Taung Strike Column
- Myanmar Accountability Project
- Myanmar Action Group Denmark
- Myanmar anti-military coup movement in New Zealand
- Myanmar Campaign Network
- Myanmar Community Group Christchurch New Zealand
- Myanmar Community Group Dunedin New Zealand
- Myanmar Cultural Research Society (MCRS)
- Myanmar Diaspora Group Finland
- Myanmar Engineers – New Zealand
- Myanmar Gonye (New Zealand)
- Myanmar People Alliance (Shan State)
- Myanmar Railway, Region (3) CDM Strike Column
- Myanmar Students’ Union in New Zealand
- Myaung Education Network
- Myaung Medical Team နွေဦးရောင်နီဆေးအဖွဲ့
- Naphe Development Organization
- Nelson Myanmar Community Group New Zealand
- Network for Human Rights Documentation Network Burma (ND-Burma)
- New Zealand Doctors for NUG
- New Zealand Karen Association
- New Zealand Zo Community Inc.
- New Rehmonnya Federated Force (NRFF)
- No 7 State High School Alumni Strike Column
- Nway Oo Guru Lay Myar
- Overseas Mon Association. New Zealand
- Padauk
- Pakokku Youth Development Council
- Pan Pa Wash People Strike Column
- Phayagye Peace Strike Column
- Private Pre-school Teachers Association
- Progressive Voice
- Pwintphyu Development Organization (Magway Region)
- Pyi Gyi Ta Gon Strike
- Pyithu Gonye (New Zealand)
- Rohingya Action Ireland (RAI)
- Rvwang Community Association New Zealand
- RW Welfare Society
- Sangha Samaga Strike Column
- Save and Care Organization for Ethnic Women at Border Areas
- Save Myanmar Fundraising Group (New Zealand
- SEA Junction
- Sein Pan Strike Column
- Shan Community (New Zealand)
- Sisters 2 Sisters
- Southern Youth Development Organization
- Strike Column of Representatives of Arbitrarily Arrested People
- Strike Column of Teachers from Universities and Degree Colleges of Mandalay
- Support Group for Democracy in Myanmar (The Netherlands)
- Ta’ang Women’s Organization
- Taekwondo Sport Association
- Tanintharyi Nationalities Congress TNC
- Tenasserim Student Unions’ Network – TSUN
- Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma (TACDB)
- Thapaynyo News Letter
- The European Rohingya Council (ERC)
- The Ladies
- The Netherlands Myanmar Solidarity Platform
- Think Centre (Singapore)
- Trip Net
- U.S. Campaign for Burma
- White Coat Society Yangon
- With Myanmar UK
- Women Activists Myanmar (WAM)
- Women’s League of Burma
- Yangon Medical Network
- Youths for Community-Myaung
- ပွင့်ဖြူလယ်ယာမြေကွန်ရက်
- မျိုးဆက်-Generations