UN rights chief: No prospect of safe, sustainable return of Rohingyas

News Desk

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Wednesday said the situation of Rohingya Muslims is ever more protracted, with no prospect of safe and sustainable return.

Many are taking to dangerous journeys in the region by sea, he observed.

The UN rights chief said there must be intensified efforts by the international community for an end to the violence and the peaceful restoration of an inclusive and representative government.

“The Myanmar military has lost critical ground since the end of October as a result of coordinated attacks by ethnic armed organizations and anti-military armed groups,” he said, noting that civilian casualties and internal displacement have been rising at a rapid rate.

Now, as ever, the UN human rights chief said, it is necessary that all parties ensure that the civilian population is adequately protected.

In Myanmar, the human rights crisis caused by the military continues to inflict an unbearable toll on civilians.

“To date, credible sources have verified that military forces have killed over 4,232 civilians since the coup,” Turk said at a press conference in Geneva ahead of the UN Human Rights Day that falls on December 10.

He said civilians have suffered countless violations – facing airstrikes, artillery shelling, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and prosecutions, as well as sexual violence, displacement, denial of humanitarian assistance and the burning of their homes, fields and villages.