UNHCHR Calls for Investigation on Mistreatment of Rohingya

By WAI MOE

The United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, on Thursday called for an investigation into alleged mistreatment of Rohingya boatpeople and urged Burma’s neighboring countries to treat them according to international standards.

In her address, Pillay said she had been distressed by the harrowing accounts of the Rohingya boatpeople “who had taken to the sea to flee” Burma.

“Reports that many [Rohingya] were denied proper assistance and subsequently perished at sea should be thoroughly investigated,” she said. “I urge all neighboring countries to ensure their appropriate reception, processing and protection, in line with international standards.”

Since early this year, the issue of the Rohingya boatpeople has been in the public eye after the Royal Thai Navy arrested more than 1,200 boatpeople and allegedly sent them back out to sea with little food and water and no engines in their boats. As result, hundreds of Rohingya boatpeople are believed to be missing and presumed dead.

Meanwhile, the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) criticized Thailand for its treatment of Rohingya boatpeople.

According to the USCRI Web site, Merrill Smith, the policy director of the USCRI, spoke to Australia’s ABC radio about the gross human rights violations taking place in Thailand in an effort to bring greater visibility to the plight of the Rohingya.

“Nothing justifies this type of abrogation of human rights,” he said. “The Thai government’s behavior is reprehensive.”

The heads of state of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which includes Burma and Thailand, discussed the problem of Rohingya boatpeople during the 14th Asean Summit in Thailand which concluded on March 1.

At the summit, Burmese delegates—who refuse to accept that the boatpeople are Burmese citizens—would only refer to Rohingyas as “Bengalis.”

Asean leaders concurred that the issue is a regional problem which involves human traffickers and should be resolved through the Bali Process, which is the international agreement against human trafficking. A regional meeting on the issue is scheduled to be held in Indonesia in April.