In a report commissioned by the United Nations that showed findings of mass killings and acts of genocide perpetrated by the Myanmar government, Myanmar government officials have denied any allegations of crimes against humanity towards the Rohingya population. Such allegations have included acts of extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, and widespread violence which has led to more than 700,000 Rohingya people fleeing the country. The report entails for members of the government to face official charges over their violent oppression against the minority group.

Despite the horrendous findings, Zaw Htay, a senior spokesperson for the Myanmar government has counteracted the UN’s statements by stating that the allegations were falsified since “we (Myanmar government) didn’t allow the FFM (the UN Fact-Finding Mission) to enter into Myanmar, that’s why we don’t agree and accept any resolutions made by the Human Rights Council.” In an ironic response to the UN, Htay has further claimed that the government would “take any action against violation of human rights,” despite UN investigators labelling the actions of the Myanmar government and armed forces as “undoubtedly amount[ing] to the gravest crimes under international law.” This perplexing interpretation of the genocide by the Myanmar government has caused an outcry from the international community on the country’s lack of accountability.

The rejection of the UN findings by the Myanmar government must be continually condemned by the international community in order to place pressure on the government to be held accountable for their actions. Violence and human rights violations towards a minority group must never be tolerated at any level. Especially when there is a refusal to acknowledge wrongdoings by a government, more scrutiny by states, media, and human rights institutions need to be made.  Although it may seem as a simplistic process of negotiating peace in the region, the international community must maintain and initiate harsher economic sanctions to the Myanmar government until they are willing to stop the genocide. However, despite a complete peace process being an unconceivable outcome in the near future, continually engaging the Myanmar government in dialogue by the international community will ensure that the government is held accountable for their actions.

Since 2016, more than 671,000 Rohingya people have fled from Rakhine State in Myanmar into neighbouring Bangladesh in order to escape from what is considered as a form of textbook ethnic cleansing. Despite being a minority group that has inhabited Myanmar for more than 1,000 years, the Rohingya people are still deprived of free movement, higher education, and Burmese citizenship. Persecution of the Rohingya people has dated back to the 1970s where they have faced several military crackdowns regarding religious and ethnic tensions by the Burmese army and the country’s Buddhists nationalists. However, the 2016 attacks on the Burmese border police near the Rakhine State/Bangladesh border that left 9 police personnel dead, escalated the already prevalent tensions between the Rohingya people and the Burmese government. Initiated by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, a Rohingya insurgency group, it has been suggested that the attacks provided the Burmese military the justifications to initiate crackdowns in villages within the Rakhine state which still continue to this day.

The persecution of an entire minority group for its sheer existence is an unacceptable retaliation measure. As a genocide that reflects the likes of the Rwandan and Bosnian genocide, the crimes against the Rohingya people must be stopped before further escalation ensues, and more innocent lives are lost. A political agenda and a nationalistic attitude can justify systematic violence which can lead to a continuity of violence. In order to counteract this notion, scrutiny by the international community needs to consistently occur in order to promote peaceful means of ending violence.