Myanmar

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead Excerpts

Thursday 10th May 2018 Grand Committee

[Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead (Lab)]

My Lords, I warmly thank the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, for securing this debate and giving us such wonderful evidence of what she understands to be the case. The United Nations and respected organisations such as Human Rights Watch have, as we know, described the actions of the Burmese army against the Rohingya people of Burma as nothing more than ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, and have said that acts of genocide have taken place. Since last August, the military has devastated Rohingya communities with murder, rape and burning, driving 700,000 people out of Burma, and those atrocities continue. As assistant Secretary-General Gilmour recently reported, there has been,

“terror and forced starvation … to drive the remaining Rohingya from their homes and into Bangladesh”.

Clearly, the Government of Bangladesh are to be commended for their response to the mass inflow of Rohingya refugees. They endure terrible conditions, currently worsened by the flooding and landslides of the monsoon, and have no means of mitigating the danger and agony. Naturally, I welcome the resources committed by the British Government, and urge that they be increased.

Meanwhile, the visit to Burma by UN Security Council envoys has been useless. It is clear that repatriation could be justified only if there was rapid, transformative change in the policy, practice and citizenship law of Burma. For the Rohingya, anything else would mean a return to hell. The testimonies of countless survivors and satellite images give appallingly conclusive evidence of the guilt of the Burmese military, but only international action will make it accountable. That must mean referral of Burma to the International Criminal Court, and I urge our Government to seek such action through the United Nations. The crimes against humanity of the Burmese military will continue as long as its arrogant sense of impunity is unchallenged, which is why it is vital to subject it to international law.

The UN has long described the Rohingya as the world’s most persecuted ethnic minority. They have been subject to unimaginable horrors; they are stateless, utterly powerless and almost voiceless. We who have voices must provide mercy, security and some hope of justice for these wretched people. Prosecuting their oppressors would be a start.