Impose arms embargo on Myanmar army

The Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights yesterday demanded that the Southeast Asian regional bloc mount pressure on Myanmar to ensure safe and voluntary repatriation of the Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh.

It also wants the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to hold talks with India, China and Russia in order to impose an arms embargo and targeted sanctions on the Myanmar military accused of ethnic cleansing.

"It is their [China, Russia and India] arms being used against the Rohingyas," said Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) Chairperson Charles Santiago at a press conference following a four-day visit to Bangladesh.

"We urge the Asean foreign ministers to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the Rohingya repatriation plan and put pressure on Myanmar to take the onus of the repatriation," he added.

A fact-finding mission of APHR talked to the Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, MPs of Bangladesh, and officials of Bangladesh government and the UN in last four days.

They lauded Bangladesh for sheltering more than 688,000 refugees who fled military crackdown in Rakhine since August 25. However, they were also critical of the repatriation deal signed between Bangladesh and Myanmar on November 23.

The repatriation was scheduled to begin on January 23 amid concerns from the refugees as well as from the international community on the safety issue in Rakhine.

"Most of the Rohingyas we talked to said they want to return to Rakhine because they were born there and lived there for decades. They had their houses and property but cannot return under the present circumstances," said Charles Santiago, an MP from the Democratic Action Party of Malaysia.

Based on the talks with the Rohingyas, the fact-finding mission said the refugees have four specific demands -- ensuring safety in Rakhine, compensating them as their houses and property were damaged and members of their community killed and raped, granting them citizenship, and deploying peacekeepers in Rakhine.

"It was unfortunate that the Rohingyas have not been involved in the repatriation discussion," said Charles Santiago.

The Asean, as a regional bloc, in principle does not interfere in domestic affairs of its member states, but the Rohingya issue now is no longer a Myanmar issue, it is an Asean issue, he told journalists.

"Humanity is borderless," he said, stressing Asean's role in addressing the problems of the Rohingyas, who have been persecuted in Rakhine for decades.

He also demanded that the western countries should confiscate the bank accounts of the army officials responsible for the killings in Rakhine.

Singapore MP Louis Ng said the Asean countries are providing financial and humanitarian aid for the Rohingyas, but that is not enough and they can and should do more.

Former Thai MP Rachada Dhnadirek said she was speechless as she heard the horrible stories of torture of the Rohingyas back in Rakhine.

"As a woman, I had no idea this could happen to a human being," she said.

"The Asean countries must stop using the non-interference principle as an excuse for inaction," she observed.

"This has been a longstanding issue affecting the entire region. The Asean needs to take concrete and collective action to confront it directly. Financial commitment to supporting the humanitarian assistance is critical, but it must be accompanied by putting pressure on the Myanmar military to end persecution that lies at the root of the crisis," she added.

The UNICEF has meanwhile called on Myanmar for unhindered access to the Rohingya camps

The UN body yesterday urged Myanmar to give the aid agencies unhindered access to camps it has built for tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees, reports Reuters.

An international delegation advising Myanmar toured the Taung Pyo Letwe refugee camp outside Maungdaw near the Bangladesh border. Video of the camp shows long, plywood houses set on a rocky field and surrounded by a wire mesh fence topped with barbed wire.

"Until the safety and wellbeing of any child returning to Myanmar can be guaranteed, talk of repatriation is premature,” UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Justin Forsyth said in a statement.

The UN Refugee Agency had earlier said there are continued restrictions on access for aid agencies, media and other independent observers in Myanmar, but the access was necessary to create conditions for a genuine and lasting solution to the crisis.

FILLING OUT FORMS

Myanmar officials told a news conference on Tuesday that Bangladesh was not ready to send back the refugees as scheduled because the potential returnees had not completed the forms Myanmar provided attesting to their former residency in Myanmar.

"They also have to check with the UNHCR about whether it's voluntary," Minister of International Cooperation Kyaw Tin told the news conference.

"They need a lot of time to fill out the forms and determine if they really want to come back."

A Bangladeshi official who took part in the talks with Myanmar told Reuters the UNHCR would be involved in the process to "ensure the repatriation would be voluntary".

The official said Bangladesh was working towards signing a memorandum of understanding with UNHCR for the repatriation and it could take "at least two months" to start the return.

Meantime, late on Tuesday, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the delay in the repatriation was a good idea and Washington was concerned about a lack of access for UN organisations.