Right of Reply made by H.E. U Hau Do Suan, Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Union Of Myanmar to the United Nations against the allegations made by some member states regarding the situation in Rakhine State

Nay Pyi Taw September 27

Nigeria, France ,Turkey ,Afghanistan, Pakistan, the UAE ,Malaysia ,Maldives ,Chad and Bangladesh allegedly accused Myanmar of committing “atrocities” and “ethnic” during the general debate of 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly held at the Unite Nations Headquarters in New York.

H.E. U Hau Do Suan, Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to the United Nations, spoke in exercise of the right of reply against those allegations at the final session of the general debate on 25 September 2017.

He said it was deeply regrettable that unsubstantiated allegations had been repeated in those chambers likening the situation in Rakhine State to “ethnic Cleansing “. He also said that terms such as “atrocities”, “ethnic cleansing” , and “genocide” must not be used lightly, and the use of such terms should be considered only after there was solid evidence. Myanmar objected in the strongest terms the use of such words as atrocities and ethnic cleansing by the delegations concerned in their statements in reference to the situation in Myanmar . He urged those delegations and the international community to see the situation in northern Rakhine objectively and in an unbiased manner. He stated that there was no ethnic cleansing there was no genocide.

He stressed the , within hours of the release of the report of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, a series of coordinated attacks were carried out on 30 police outposts in Northern Rakhine State on 25 August. The so-called Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) had claimed responsibility for the attacks. Subsequently, ARSA was declared as a terrorist group. Those vicious attacks had resulted in the loss of life and property and property and displacement of peoples. Those who had had to abandon their hearth and home were many – not just Muslim and Rakhine, but also small minority groups such as Daingnet , Mro , Thet , Mramagy and Hindus. Most of the world had been unaware of the existence and plight of those small groups, In the affected area of northern Rakhine, Muslim community was not a minority as widely reported.

In reality, they were a majority as their population had increased. They now constituted 95% of the total population in the area. The Government was striving to restore normalcy. At present, humanitarian assistance was the top priority of the Government, The Government was committed to ensuring that aid would be received by all those in need, without discrimination. He reiterated that refugees who had fled to Bangladesh would be repatriated to Myanmar based on the experience of 1993, and that a working group for verification would be set up expeditiously to conduct systematic verification process.

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