UN call to end Myanmar military campaign

After the greatly disappointing speech by Aung San Suu Kyi that refused to acknowledge the Rohingya crisis let alone commit to finding a workable solution, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a quite anticipated reaction, reiterated his condemnation of the military operations in Myanmar's Rakhine State. He called for "unhindered humanitarian access" to the country as the crackdown that has so far forced over 415,000 Rohingyas to flee to Bangladesh continues. 

While we welcome the UN chief's acknowledgement of the crisis, despite Suu Kyi's defense that bore all the hallmarks of a guilty party trying to whitewash its activities, we are yet to see any action based on pronouncements made by the UN and other global powers. The clampdown is still in effect—although Suu Kyi would have us believe that it is not—with more and more people crossing the border every day. Those left behind face the very real dangers of displacement, violence and even death. The UN is rightly worried that the human rights investigators and aid workers cannot enter the country to probe the situation and bring help while Bangladesh, already an overpopulated country, is struggling with the upkeep of an ever-growing population of refugees.  

As things stand now, Myanmar, bolstered by backing from the likes of China, Russia and India, is unlikely to act on its own to end its military campaign and restore the rule of law. This makes it imperative that the international community brings all their cards on the table—not just verbal, perfunctory condemnation—to force the government in Myanmar to stop.