Myanmar rejects UN resolution over Rakhine issue

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Myanmar has expressed its opposition against a resolution of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) with regard to the Rakhine issue, but pledged efforts to address the challenges of Rakhine state.

Official media on Thursday published a statement of Myanmar Permanent Representative to UN Htin Lynn in response to a draft resolution submitted to a special session of the UNHRC on Myanmar.

Htin Lynn speaks during the opening ceremony of the Special Meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean at a hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, May 29, 2017. /Reuters Photo

The resolution tabled on Tuesday was entitled "Situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar."

The special session of the UNHRC was held in Geneva at the request of the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The statement said Myanmar opposes any country's specific resolution which gives rise to polarization, division and confrontation, and it does not reflect the principles of the UNHRC such as impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity.

The draft resolution was focusing on a particular group of people belonging to a particular faith. The promotion and protection of human rights should be for all people of the globe irrespective of race, religion and gender, he said in the statement.

Overview of the United Nations Human Rights Council is seen in Geneva, Switzerland June 6, 2017. /Reuters Photo

He pointed out that "some elements in the draft resolution are infringing on the state sovereignty of Myanmar. Allegation without sufficient and concrete evidence are also incorporated in the text."

"International assistance should be part of the solution, not part of the problem," he said, complaining that it fails to condemn the attacks of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army extremist terrorists launched fresh attacks on police outposts in Rakhine on August 25, displacing residents from a number of areas in Rakhine state.

The statement said the Myanmar government has been exerting efforts to resolve the issue of Rakhine internally as well as through cooperation with Bangladesh.

A severely malnourished child is examined at UNICEF medical centre at Balukhali refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh December 4, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an agreement on November 23 on the return of displaced Rohingya people who have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar's Rakhine state.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency