{"id":120243,"date":"2017-09-29T03:33:05","date_gmt":"2017-09-29T07:33:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=120243"},"modified":"2017-09-29T03:33:05","modified_gmt":"2017-09-29T07:33:05","slug":"un-meeting-on-myanmar-spotlights-security-council-divisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/09\/29\/un-meeting-on-myanmar-spotlights-security-council-divisions\/","title":{"rendered":"UN meeting on Myanmar spotlights Security Council divisions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Guterres<\/a>
Guterres said \u201cthe failure to address this systematic violence could result in a spillover into central Rakhine, where an additional 250,000 Muslims could potentially face displacement.\u201d (Photo By Neptuul – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The U.N. Security Council’s first open meeting on Myanmar in eight years highlighted the body’s deep divisions: China and Russia supported the\u00a0Southeast Asian\u00a0country’s government while the U.S., Britain and France demanded an end to \u201cethnic cleansing\u201d of its Rohingya Muslim minority.<\/p>\n

With the number of Rohingyas fleeing to Bangladesh since Aug. 25 now topping 500,000, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the U.N.’s most powerful body on Thursday to take strong action. He also called on Myanmar’s authorities to immediately halt military operations, allow \u201cunfettered access\u201d for humanitarian aid, and ensure that all those who fled can return home.<\/p>\n

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley, using Myanmar’s former name of Burma, told council members: \u201cWe cannot be afraid to call the actions of the Burmese authorities what they appear to be: a brutal, sustained campaign to cleanse the country of an ethnic minority.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe time for well-meaning, diplomatic words in this council has passed,\u201d she said. \u201cWe must now consider action against Burmese security forces who are implicated in abuses and stoking hatred among their fellow citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haley urged all countries to suspend the supply of weapons to the country’s military until its members are held accountable for the \u201cbrutal assault\u201d on the Rohingyas.<\/p>\n

The U.S., Britain and France were joined by many council members in demanding an immediate end to the violence and a strong council response.<\/p>\n

A global coalition of 88 civil society and human rights organizations urged the Security Council to step up pressure on Myanmar’s authorities \u201cby seriously considering options such as an arms embargo against the military and targeted financial sanctions against individuals responsible or crimes and serious abuses.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the prospect of a strong response from the council appeared unlikely after both China and Russia supported the government’s approach to tackling the crisis.<\/p>\n

China’s deputy U.N. ambassador, whose country has close ties to Myanmar, urged the international community \u201cto view the difficulties and challenges confronting the government of Myanmar through objective optics, exercise patience, and provide support and help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wu Haitao stressed that \u201cmany of the differences and antagonisms\u201d in Rakhine state have been building up over a long time and \u201cthere is no quick fix.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we speak, the situation on the ground is beginning to move toward stability,\u201d Wu said. \u201cAll parties should work constructively to help reinforce this momentum, de-escalate the situation and alleviate the humanitarian conditions step-by-step.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia warned that \u201cexcessive pressure\u201d on Myanmar’s government \u201ccould only aggravate the situation in the country and around it.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is no alternative to resolving \u201cthe longstanding and complicated crisis\u201d in Rakhine through political means and a dialogue among representatives of all nationalities and faiths,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to stop any kind of violence from any side and the rhetoric which fuels it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Russian ambassador and the U.N. secretary-general both warned that the Rohingya crisis could spread.<\/p>\n

Guterres said \u201cthe failure to address this systematic violence could result in a spillover into central Rakhine, where an additional 250,000 Muslims could potentially face displacement.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also warned that the humanitarian crisis is a breeding ground for radicalization, criminals and traffickers. And he said the broader crisis \u201chas generated multiple implications for neighbouring states and the larger region, including the risk of inter-communal strife.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nebenzia said \u201cterrorists and extremists … are already trying to put down roots in\u00a0Southeast Asia\u201d and \u201cwe cannot allow further radicalization in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

The council meeting also exposed tensions between Myanmar and Bangladesh.<\/p>\n

Myanmar’s national security adviser blamed the crisis in Rakhine state on terrorism and declared that \u201cthere is no ethnic cleansing and no genocide in Myanmar.\u201d<\/p>\n

U Thaung Tun said security operations ended Sept. 5 and the vast majority of those who fled to Bangladesh did so because \u201cfear was instilled in the heart by the terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 50 per cent of villages in Rakhine state are intact and people are living in peace with their neighbours, he said.<\/p>\n

He announced that diplomats, accompanied by the media, will be visiting northern Rakhine on Monday. And he said Guterres has been invited to visit Myanmar.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is imperative that the international community join hands with us to ensure that democracy takes firm root,\u201d U Thaung Tun said. \u201cThe Security Council must refrain from taking measures that exacerbate rather than alleviate the situation in Rakhine state. It can and must do no less.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Bangladesh’s U.N. Ambassador Masud Bin Momen told the council the violence in Rakhine hasn’t stopped despite government claims.<\/p>\n

He said Rohingyas described rape being used as a weapon to scare families to leave, and reported villages being burned, and people being looted and abused.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese atrocities attest that the Myanmar government is using arson to de-populate northern Rakhine and take over ownership of lands,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bin Momen said the Security Council should also take into account that reportedly more than two divisions of Myanmar’s armed forces were deployed near the Bangladesh border in the first week of August with heavy armaments and artillery.<\/p>\n

With the arrival of over 500,000 Rohingyas since Aug. 25, he said Bangladesh is now hosting over 900,000 members of \u201cthis most persecuted minority in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bin Momen called this situation untenable and reiterated an appeal to the U.N. to create \u201csafe zones\u201d inside Myanmar.<\/p>\n

The Security Council over the years has discussed Myanmar behind closed doors, including three recent closed meetings. The last open meeting in 2009 was attended by then-Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.N. Security Council’s first open meeting on Myanmar in eight years highlighted the body’s deep divisions: China and Russia …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":118150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[24805,335,20484,25303],"class_list":["post-120243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-w","tag-ethnic-cleansing","tag-myanmar","tag-u-n-security-council","tag-un-meeting","mauthors-edith-m-lederer","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}