A/HRC/42/CRP.5
Mission has found that the conditions under which some 600,000 remaining Rohingya live
in Rakhine State are such that do not allow for safe, dignified and sustainable repatriation.
Indeed, the Mission found that the Government of Myanmar has not put in place the
necessary conditions to allow the returning Rohingya population to return to their land.
108. In May 2019, the Experts of the Mission visited Konarpara, Zero Point Zone, on the
Myanmar-Bangladesh border,180 where approximately 4,000 internally displaced Rohingya
remain trapped, predominantly inside Myanmar territory, since September 2017. 181
Immediately after their arrival at the Zero Point Zone, Myanmar authorities replaced an old
border fence with concrete, steel and wire barriers. This was aimed at preventing the
displaced Rohingya from returning to their homes and land.182 The displaced population
explained to the Mission that they have been unable to return to their places of origin
despite repeated requests and pleas to the Myanmar authorities.183
109. In March 2018, Myanmar authorities through loudspeakers demanded that they
leave the area.184 High-level Myanmar officials visited the area and spoke with the
displaced population. Rohingya requested the visiting delegation to allow them to return to
their places of origin. Their responses had always been that they would discuss the matter
with authorities in Naypyidaw, the capital. However, to date, there has been no progress on
their return.185 The population remains in a precarious situation with limited access to
humanitarian support, with only the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
providing humanitarian assistance to the displaced population. 186
110. New arrivals in Bangladesh, with whom the Mission spoke, paint a bleak picture of
the reality on the ground in Rakhine.187 This section summarises these findings.
1.
The situation of the internally displaced
111. Myanmar has 128,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in central Rakhine who
have been living in camps or camp-like settings for the past seven years. Some 126,000 of
them are Rohingya; all of them are Muslims. About 80 per cent of the camp population are
women and children.188 These camps were established following the 2012 violence, which
resulted in the displacement of over 140,000 people. Most of them were Rohingya. 189
During the violence, security forces committed serious human rights violations against
Rohingya and Kaman and failed to intervene to stop the violence, leading the Mission to
find that the violence was pre-planned and instigated and that the security forces acted in
complicity with ethnic Rakhine.190
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
34
https://extranet.ohchr.org/sites/hrc/HRCSessions/RegularSessions/41Session/Pages/Statements.aspx?
SessionId=30&MeetingDate=02/07/2019.
The Experts held discussions with the displaced Rohingya on the Bangladesh side of the border and
did not enter Myanmar territory as they did not have permission to do so.
FI-051.
FI-051, FM-006, A/HRC/42/CRP.3, Paras 107, 110-113.
FI-051.
FI-051, FM-006, A/HRC/42/CRP.3, Paras 107, 110, 111, 112, 113.
FI-051.
FI-051, FM-006, FM-007.
CI-209, CI-211, CI-212, CI-213, CI-214, CI-217, CI-222, CI-223, CI-224, CI-226, CI-227, CI-228,
CI-229, CI-239, CI-240, CI-241, CI-242, CI-243, CI-245, CI-246, CI-287, CI-288, CI-289, CI-290,
CI-291, CI-292, FI-007, FI-010, FI-011, FI-026, FI-027, FI-028, FI-029, FI-030, FI-031, FI-034, FI035, FI-037, FI-038, FI-046, FI-047, FI-048. A total of 1051 individuals have arrived in Bangladesh
during the first seven months of 2019. UNHCR, population factsheet, available from
https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/70585.
FFFGEN-1-885653, UNICEF, Investing in children should be the foundation of Myanmar’s progress
and development, available from https://www.unicef.org/eap/press-releases/investing-childrenshould-be-foundation-myanmars-progress-and-development;
UNHCR, One year on: Displacement in Rakhine state, Myanmar, available from
https://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing/2013/6/51b1af0b6/year-displacement-rakhine-statemyanmar.html.
A/HRC/39/CRP.2, paras. 628 and 747.
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