Independent probe into violence against Rohingyas

The UN human rights chief Navi Pillay's call for an independent investigation into the widely reported abuses by the security forces in Myanmar's Rakhine state against ethnic minority Muslims Rohingyas couldn't have come a day later. We welcome the rather belated but strongly worded justification for an independent inquiry into the unabated human tragedy articulated by the UNHCR chief.
The call for investigation carries an extra weight and relevance in view of the fact that it is set against the backdrop of Myanmar president's unprecedented suggestion to the UNHCR chief that Rohingya Muslims be deported to a third country by way of solving the ethnic conflict. Such an approach has no standing in international law where even there is standard provision for citizenship by naturalisation, let alone the Rohingyas' historical claim to citizenship.
The UNHCR chief has categorically disapproved of the manner in which the ethnic conflict is being handled in Rakhine state by the Myanmar authorities. Pillay has clearly alluded to "stream of reports from independent sources alleging discriminatory and arbitrary responses by security forces, and even their instigation of and involvement in clashes."
What could have been an initial swift response of the authorities putting out the fire of ethnic violence was instead turned into a crackdown targeting Muslims of the Rohingya community. Whereas the state is supposed to protect the minority, helplessly did they fall victim to a majority onslaught.
Since May when sectarian violence broke out in the Rakhine state of Myanmar with the Rohingya Muslims being brutalised and dislodged, we in this paper, urged the international community to persuade the Myanmar government to solve the conflict internally. We pinned our hopes given that Myanmar embraced a policy of liberalisation marking a break with its closed society paradigm. But so far our expectations have been belied.
Now that, however, the UNHCR chief has demanded an independent investigation into the escalating violence in Rakhine state, the powerful UN member states must pull their weight to institute a thorough going probe into the handling of ethnic conflict in Myanmar and come to the relief of the minority community in the Rakhine state. Simultaneously, citizenship rights must be restored to the Rohingyas.