A/HRC/32/18
enjoyment of several economic and social rights, including the rights to education, to the
highest attainable standard of health and to an adequate standard of living.33 A significant
number of internally displaced persons are not officially recognized or do receive adequate
assistance owing to issues in clarifying and defining who is an internally displaced person.
The violence and related restrictions have also severely affected those in Rakhine State who
are not among the internally displaced, including those located in remote or isolated
communities, who do not receive adequate assistance.
53.
It is estimated that 25,000 internally displaced persons returned or were integrated at
the site of displacement in 2015 through the Rakhine State Government Resettlement Plan.
There is, however, an urgent need to find durable solutions for all those who remain
displaced. The process should be informed, transparent, voluntary and rights-based.
Furthermore, internally displaced persons should have access to an effective mechanism
that ensures or restores housing, land and property, or that provides adequate compensation
where return is not feasible. Sufficient guarantees should be given to ensure that housing,
land and tenure issues do not lead to further human rights concerns.
54.
The segregation of communities in Rakhine poses a significant challenge to the
identification of durable solutions. This is particularly the case in Sittwe town, where no
plans have been made to address the situation of more than 90,000 internally displaced
persons in camps, who often reside only a few kilometres from their place of origin. This
enforced segregation of communities requires urgent attention. Targeted measures of
peacebuilding, interfaith initiatives and the gradual restoration of social and economic
bonds are vital.
12.
Assessment
55.
The situation described above reflects a pattern of gross human rights violations that
affect fundamental civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Rohingya.
Widespread discriminatory policies and/or practices targeting them on the basis of their
ethnic and/or religious identity have led to an acute deprivation of fundamental rights.
Many of the acts described would suggest a widespread or systematic attack against the
Rohingya, in turn suggesting the possible commission of crimes against humanity, if
established by a court of law (see also A/HRC/25/64, para. 51).
C.
Violations and abuses against other minorities
56.
Decades of armed conflicts, varying in scope and intensity, have taken place against
a complex backdrop of long-standing grievances against the Bamar-dominated central
Government and military. Successive Special Rapporteurs have consistently reported
allegations of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law in the
context of these conflicts. The absence of adequate accountability mechanisms has resulted
in impunity, thereby eroding further the rule of law and undermining sustainable peace and
reconciliation. While the signing of a nationwide ceasefire agreement is a significant step, it
is only a starting point. Inclusive political talks – with the full participation of ethnic
minority communities, including women representatives – are critical to address the root
causes of conflict and long-standing grievances of ethnic communities. The new
Government’s proposal for a national peace conference is welcome.
33
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, arts. 25 and 26; International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights, arts. 11-13.
13