UN chief has urged Myanmar to ensure safe return of Rohingya

BANGKOK: The UN chief Antonio Guterres urged Myanmar to ensure the “safe” return of Rohingya refugees driven out by army operations.

Speaking at a summit of Southeast Asian leaders in Bangkok — with Myanmar’s de facto head Suu Kyi in the room — Antonio Guterres said he remains “deeply concerned” about the plight of the Rohingya refugees.

Violence in Rakhine state in 2017 forced more than 740,000 Rohingya to flee, most seeking refuge in overcrowded camps in neighbouring Bangladesh, in what UN investigators say amounted to genocide.

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Myanmar does not consider the Rohingya as citizens.

The country welcomes back those who agree to a bureaucratic status below full citizenship, and if they agree to live under tight guard after their villages were burnt.

Myanmar is responsible to “ensure a conducive environment for the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable repatriation of refugees”, said Guterres.

As Guterres spoke Suu Kyi sat in the room expressionless.

Only a few hundred Rohingya have returned to Myanmar so far, with majority fearing persecution in the Buddhist-majority country.

Myanmar “to ensure humanitarian actors have full and unfettered access to areas of return”, said secretary-general.

Myanmar has refused to bend in its approach to the Rohingya, despite repeated entreaties by the UN and endless criticism by rights groups and world leaders.

Much of Rakhine remains largely closed to aid workers and journalists, who can only visit on tightly controlled, military-escorted trips.

It has launched an extensive and increasingly bloody campaign against Rakhine Buddhists, who are also fighting the central state for autonomy.

After the 2017 unrest, Suu Kyi has come under fire for failing to use her moral force to defend Rohingya.

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The treatment of the minority has crushed her image as an upholder of human rights in the eyes of the world.

Myanmar’s army has been criticized for covering up the crackdown, which it blamed on Rohingya “terrorists”.

A leaked ASEAN report earlier this year said the repatriation effort could take a further two years.

Suu Kyi has faced pressure over her country’s treatment of the Rohingya from fellow ASEAN members Malaysia and Indonesia, which are both Muslim-majority states.