Dr Eglantine Staunton provides evidence on the situation in Rakhine State (Myanmar) to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British Parliament

Dr Eglantine Staunton submitted evidence on the situation in Rakhine State (Myanmar) to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British Parliament on 23rd October 2017.

Discrimination against the Rohingya – a Muslim minority leaving in a predominantly Buddhist Myanmar – is not new as they have been refused citizenship, do not have access to basic state services, and have been the victims of state-based violence for decades. However, the attacks perpetrated on 25 August 2017 by militants of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa, previously known as Harakah al-Yaqin) on police posts in northern Rakhine state have generated a massive crackdown by the Myanmar security forces against the minority. To borrow the words of Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the atrocities committed amount to “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing”. The amount of casualties remains unclear and so does the amount of internally displaced people. However, as of 17 October 2017, the UNHCR estimated that over 582,000 refugees had come to Bangladesh since the August crackdown.

In her brief, Dr Staunton gave a summary of the humanitarian, political, and security situation in Rakhine State. She then explained why the resolution of the crisis needed to be a priority, first and foremost for the Rohingya, but also to guarantee Myanmar’s transition to democracy, the stability of the region, and the legitimacy of the United Nations. She explained what needed to be achieved for the crisis to end and then reflected on what has been attempted by the United Nations, the European Union, and the United-Kingdom. She concluded by suggesting concrete steps that could be taken by the United-Kingdom.