BRUSSELS, Aug. 24 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The European Union has defended this Wednesday the “safe, sustainable, dignified and voluntary” return of the Rohingya community to their places of origin in Burma, five years after the refugee crisis broke out due to the violent repression against this community in the state. of Rakhine.
In a joint statement, the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, and the Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, have called on the Burmese authorities to create the right conditions for the return of this minority to the country, after acknowledging that their future “remains uncertain”, and have supported the work for an independent mechanism to investigate the crimes committed against the Rohingya.
The EU recalls that this group has suffered war crimes and crimes against humanity that must be investigated and for which they must be held accountable. It also regrets that the same military commanders who carried out a persecution against the Rohingya in the west of the country five years ago are now the leaders of the military junta that has ruled Burma since the 2021 coup.
“Addressing the root causes of this crisis, including the systematic abuses suffered by hundreds of thousands of Rohingya in the Rakhine state, must be an international priority. In this regard, the EU fully supports the work of the International Criminal Court”, they underlined in the statement, in which they point out the “unequivocal support” for the Burmese people and all minorities in the country.
Separately, the EU recognizes Bangladesh’s role as the recipient nation of refugee flows from western Burma, stressing that since 2017 it has used “considerable efforts” to guarantee protection and humanitarian assistance to almost one million Rohingya refugees. In this regard, it warns of the need to find sustainable solutions to deal with the humanitarian dimension of this crisis.
According to the latest figures provided by the UN, about 14 million people affected by the spiral of violence in Burma need humanitarian aid. Of the million Rohingya refugees, there are about 450,000 adolescents and children who are at risk of becoming a “lost generation”.
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