Commission led by former UN chief calls on Myanmar to end Rohingya restrictions or risk extremist dangers
Annan was appointed by Aung San Suu Kyi to head a year-long commission tasked with healing long-simmering divisions between the Rohingya and local Buddhists
Myanmar must scrap restrictions on movement and citizenship for its Rohingya minority if it wants to avoid fuelling extremism and bring peace to Rakhine state, a commission led by former UN chief Kofi Annan said Thursday.
Rights groups hailed the report as a milestone for the persecuted Rohingya community because the government of Aung San Suu Kyi has previously vowed to abide by its findings.
The western state, one of the country’s poorest, has long been a sectarian tinderbox and mainly Buddhist Myanmar has faced growing international condemnation for its treatment of the Muslim Rohingya there.
Annan was appointed by Suu Kyi to head a year-long commission tasked with healing long-simmering divisions between the Rohingya and local Buddhists.
On Thursday it released a landmark report, warning that failure to implement its recommendations could lead to more extremism and violence.
“Unless current challenges are addressed promptly, further radicalisation within both communities is a real risk,” the report said, describing the Rohingya as “the single biggest stateless community in the world”.