The UN in Myanmar has said it would withdraw support in Rakhine State to avoid complicity in a government “policy of apartheid” for Rohingya Muslims.
A letter dated June 6, sent by UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar Knut Ostby to the government, relayed a decision by the global body and its humanitarian partners to withhold support “beyond life-saving assistance” in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps deemed “closed” by the government, unless fundamental changes occur.
UN assistance could only be provided when it was “linked to tangible progress made on the fundamental issue of freedom of movement,” the letter said.
Currently, the policy by the government “risks entrenching segregation,” Ostby said.
In 2017, the government vowed to begin closing the IDP camps, where 128,000 Rohingya and Kaman Muslims have been forced to live in squalid, unsanitary conditions with their freedom of movement severely restricted after their homes were destroyed in violence in 2012.
The government agreed to follow recommendations of a commission led by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, which called for the displaced people to be rehoused in a voluntary and consultative manner, where possible, near their original villages, and with access to livelihoods.
However, internal UN reports seen by the Guardian and accounts from humanitarian agencies on the ground have demonstrated the reality of the “closures” is that the living conditions for the relocated Rohingya remain dire and virtually unchanged, with their basic human rights, particularly freedom of movement and access to livelihoods, almost entirely denied.
The letter, sent to Burmese Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Win Myat Aye, said that those in the old “closed” camps or newly built camps were still suffering the same indignities, with no access to “basic services” or “livelihood opportunities.”
“The government plan to build permanent housing on or next to the camps makes it very clear that the apartheid-like separation will be permanent and therefore crosses a red line for continual support to the camps,” a senior UN official in Myanmar said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
This is the first known attempt by the UN to adopt a tougher policy on camp closures, following months of warnings contained in a series of damning internal assessments on the government’s actions and the risk of complicity in abuses if international agencies continued to provide assistance.
A UN document written in September last year said that “the only scenario that is unfolding before our eyes is the implementation of a policy of apartheid with the permanent segregation of all Muslims, the vast majority of whom are stateless Rohingya, in central Rakhine.”
“The government’s current strategy would essentially formalize and entrench a system of segregation that would perpetuate human rights violations for years to come,” it added.
Burmese Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Soe Aung said that the government does not see Ostby’s letter as a warning for the withdrawal of UN support.
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