On
Myanmar,
ICP Asks UNSG Guterres Spox If
He Believes Rohingya Should Be
Acknowledged Citizens
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
February 3 – Not only have the
UN's “Good Offices” on Myanmar
been ended - now the former
office holder Vijay Nambiar is
engaged in genocide denial
after leaving the UN, still in
New York, in his personal
capacity. He did much the same
previously on Sri Lanka. See
below.
On February
3, Inner City Press asked the
UN's holdover spokesman
Stephane Dujarric about
reports of further abuse of
the Rohingya, video
here, UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press:
I wanted to ask you about this
very detailed report about
abuses of the Rohingya in
Myanmar, I know that the
mandate of the Good Offices
expired, but I'm wondering,
what is the
Secretary-General's
thought? I asked the UK
ambassador. He said
there different ways being
considered for the UN to deal
with this problem. Is
there any proposal by the
Secretary-General either to
revive that office or a
different office or have some
increased focus…?
Spokesman: I don't think
there will be a revision of
that office, but that is not
to say that there will be…
there continues to be keen
interest in the situation in
Myanmar, obviously, on the
human rights issue but also
what the UN can assist and can
do on the development issue
through the coordinated work
of the UN development agencies
in Myanmar and, obviously, on
the political front, in which
DPA will be in the lead.
But, it will be a coordinated
outlook on behalf of the UN
system.
Inner City Press: Right,
but when you say the
political, do you mean in
terms of… does the
Secretary-General believe, for
example, that the Rohingya are
and should be acknowledged as
citizens of Myanmar?
Spokesman: I think we
have… this is an ongoing
discussion. I think the
Secretary-General, the UN has
been very clear on the need to
address the needs of the
Rohingyas in a way that
respects their rights and that
is good for country as a
whole.
On January
31, Inner City Press asked the
UN's holdover spokesman
Dujarric,
From
the UN transcript, Periscope
here:
Inner City Press:
I wanted to ask, again, it has
to do with the Rohingya, in
this case, in
Bangladesh. Maybe you've
seen reports that the
Government of Bangladesh is
considering moving the people
that were able to cross the
border in camps near the
border to an island that's
described as being often
underwater. Does the UN
or, in particular, António
Guterres have any…?
Spokesman: I haven't
seen those reports…
Inner City Press: It's
in the New York Times.
Spokesman: I'll see what
I can find.
Six hours
later and counting, nothing.
On January 17,
Inner City Press asked the
UN's deputy spokesman Farhan
Haq about disappearances in
Shan State, where just-left
Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon's brother Ban Ki Ho
has been mining. UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press:
it's a case that involves two
individuals, which has become
pretty high profile, in
Myanmar. There are these
two Baptist leaders, one of
whom used to show journalists
the effects of airstrikes by
the Government in Shan State,
and Fortify Rights has called
for the Government to… to say
where they are. They've
been disappeared. Is the
UN aware of it? And
who's been sort of monitoring
the human rights aspects of
Myanmar, not just the Special
Rapporteur, but is there still
a Secretariat function, as
used to be carried out by Mr.
[Vijay] Nambiar?
Deputy Spokesman: There
still is a Secretariat
function that's being carried
out now by the Department of
Political Affairs, and I'll
check with them whether
there's anything to say about
this particular case.
From the January
12 UN
transcript:
Inner City Press:
you'd said that Vijay Nambiar
had stepped down at the end of
December, the office was not
funded. But, I've seen
he did an interview on 8
January with a Bangladesh
publication, Prothom Alo,
where he said he denied that
there's genocide of Rohingya
and Myanmar or he said that
UNHCR had said that and then
taken it back. I wanted
to, I guess, ask you, in what
capacity… is he speaking for
the UN in any way in saying
that there's no genocide in
the area?
Spokesman:
No, Mr. Nambiar is speaking in
his personal capacity.
Myanmar
was the quiet
topic of the UN
Security Council
on the evening of
November 17,
between meetings
on South Sudan and
Syria chemical
weapons.
Inner
City Press was informed that
while the US requested the
closed door briefing, the US
agreed as a condition that there
would be no outcome to the
meeting. And now, Myanmar
is not listed in any way, even
in the footnotes, of the January
Program of Work of the UN
Security Council, click here for
that.
On
November 17 the briefer was
Vijay Nambiar, Ban Ki-moon's
envoy on Myanmar as he was,
disasterously, on Sri Lanka. And
sources tell Inner City Press
that amid the burning of
Rohingyas' homes and rapes and
killings in Rakhine State,
Nambiar advised the Council to
go easy on Myanmar and give them
time. This is is disgusting, all
around. The UN has refused
to provide a summary of what
Nambiar said.
On
January 5, Inner City Press
asked holdover UN spokesman
Stephane Dujarric, video
here.
Ban
Ki-moon's brother Ban
Ki-ho did
mining and other
business in Myanmar, after
being on a “UN delegation.”
***
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