A/HRC/42/CRP.5 specifically.359 The Government’s movement restrictions, deprivation of food and denial of humanitarian relief are all having severe effects on the right to food and health of Rohingya. 172. The Mission concludes on reasonable grounds that the Government’s movement restrictions, deprivation of food, restrictions on land use and denials of humanitarian relief all constitute retrogressive measures that violate its obligations under ICESCR and CRC. The Government’s retrogressive measures deny Rohingya access to food and put their health and lives at risk. It is inconceivable that the Government is unaware of these consequences. The Mission also concludes on reasonable grounds that Governmentimposed movement, humanitarian and food access restrictions disproportionately affected the Rohingya population due to the Rohingya’s particularly vulnerable status after the 2016 and 2017 “clearance operations” and the Government’s overall discriminatory treatment of them. The Mission also found that the movement restrictions imposed disproportionately severe penalties. 173. The Government sought to justify the further tightening of restrictions in 2019 as a necessary response to the conflict between the Tatmadaw and the AA. Its 12 April 2019 local order was to stop “the flow of rice and food supplies, medicines and medical supplies, required for the insurgents’ long-term livelihood”.360 If that was the basis of the restrictions, the applicable rules of international humanitarian law would apply that may under certain circumstances justify the restrictions on the basis that they are necessary to deprive the AA of supplies. 174. The Mission finds, however, that in the majority of cases it documented, the Government’s imposition of movement restrictions, deprivation of food and denials of humanitarian relief are not directly connected with the Tatmadaw’s conflict with the AA. The Government used movement restrictions and deprived Rohingya of food and humanitarian relief in many different ways and did so long before the conflict between the Tatmadaw and AA intensified in January 2019. Additionally, accounts that the Mission received that relief supplies were distributed in favour of ethnic Rakhine over Rohingya indicate that these restrictions were not done in response to the conflict with the AA. In most cases, the AA would have relied on ethnic Rakhine communities for food. Finally, in instances where the Tatmadaw may have denied Rohingya food either by the theft or destruction of food supplies or by the deprivation of farm land, with the purpose of depriving the AA of food, the anticipated civilian deaths or injuries, including malnutrition, must be assessed under the principle of proportionality under international humanitarian law.361 175. To understand the full consequences that Rohingya suffer from the Government’s movement restrictions, deprivation of food and denial of humanitarian relief in Rakhine State, the Mission finds it appropriate to assess this issue in combination with its other findings and conclusions. As explained in the report’s Conclusions and legal findings: the impossibility of return, the Mission concludes on reasonable grounds that these restrictions, deprivations and denials contribute to the Government’s continued persecution of the Rohingya people and result in serious or great inhumane suffering, both of which are crimes against humanity. Finally, the manner in which the Government imposes its movement restrictions, deprivation of food and denial of humanitarian relief is one of several indicators that the Mission has identified to infer that the Government continues to harbour genocidal intent and that the Rohingya remain under serious risk of genocide. Finally, the Mission concludes on reasonable grounds that the Government’s food restrictions contribute to an overall condition that makes it unsafe, inhumane, unsuitable and impossible for Rohingya to return to their homes and lands. 359 360 361 CRC, arts. 24 and 27. See Chapter V, section C.5: The Conflict between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army; Humanitarian impacts of the conflict. For a more detailed discussion of this issue in the context of the confict between the Tatmadaw and Arakan Army, see Humanitarian Impacts of the Conflict. 57