A/HRC/42/CRP.3 linked to the many international human rights and international humanitarian law violations in the area perpetrated by the Tatmadaw. In line with the Guiding Principles, any extractive industry business should also conduct heightened due diligence to ensure that they are not exacerbating the conflict (conflict sensitive due diligence) and to ensure that its operations do not result in negative human rights impacts, even in these challenging operating environments. Tiffany & Co. is an example of a company that demonstrated a sensitivity to this responsibility when it reported publicly on its decision to “go above and beyond government regulations” after the lifting of U.S. sanctions in 2016, and not purchase gemstones from Myanmar since the 2003 U.S. Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act, which was adopted due to the severity of human rights violations in Myanmar.241 V. Other principal means of contributing to Tatmadaw operations and wealth A. 1. Donor companies Companies’ donations to Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine 105. The Mission concludes on reasonable grounds that several crony companies are implicated in the Myanmar Government’s concerted effort to fundamentally alter the landscape of northern Rakhine State during and following the “clearance operations” against the Rohingya that began on 25 August 2017. Much of this has been done in the name of “development”, with the Government espousing a clear discourse that the economic development of northern Rakhine is the solution to root causes of the violence. 242 As the Mission has documented, the impact of the 2017 violence against the Rohingya, which included the displacement of over 850,000 and the death of thousands, is being cemented through civilian Government and Tatmadaw-led activities making it very difficult if not impossible for the Rohingya to return to their villages of origin and access their properties and communities. Some of these activities include: construction of the border fence, an inadequate framework for repatriation, lack of conditions conducive for return, use of landmines at the border, demolition and other forms of terrain clearance, security-related construction, construction of other infrastructure, and the destruction of evidence. 243 106. This infrastructure development has been predominantly orchestrated by the Government’s Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine (UEHRD), a public-private partnership for implementing government policy in Rakhine State, formed in response to widespread international condemnation of the “clearance operations” that began in August 2017 in northern Rakhine State. In addition to its stated aim of providing humanitarian assistance to violence-affected populations and facilitating the return of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh, the UEHRD formed an Infrastructure Development and Construction Task Force to renovate buildings and undertake new construction in partnership with private companies. For reasons stated above and elaborated on below, the Mission does not assess these development projects as benefiting the Rohingya people. 107. The UEHRD is chaired by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, with Dr. Win Myat Aye, the Union Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, as vice chairperson. 244 241 242 243 244 “Burmese Gemstones,” Tiffany & Co Sustainability Report, 2017 (https://media.tiffany.com/is/content/Tiffany/Tiffany_Sustainability_Full_Report). Simon Lewis, “Myanmar's Suu Kyi woos investors to crisis-hit Rakhine, decries "negative" focus,” Reuters, 22 February 2019 (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rakhineinvestment/myanmars-suu-kyi-woos-investors-to-crisis-hit-rakhine-decries-negative-focusidUSKCN1QB0HO). A/HRC/39/CRP.2, paragraphs 1180-1244. Official website of the Office of the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine (UEHRD), http://rakhine.unionenterprise.org/index.php/about-uehrd. The UEHRD was established by Order no. 86/2017 on 17 October 2017 by the Office of the President. 37