EU to propose action at UNHRC session

The European Union is likely to propose specific actions against Myanmar over the Rohingya crisis during the 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
“The EU might seek steps against Myanmar top military officials for human rights violations in line with recommendations made by the UN Fact Finding Mission,” said a Bangladeshi diplomat in Geneva where the session would begin today.
Last year, the European Council imposed sanctions on 14 Myanmar individuals for serious human rights violations in Myanmar. The sanctions consist of an asset freeze and a travel ban.
The council called for Myanmar to address the issues of accountability, access for the UN and humanitarian agencies to the states of Rakhine, Kachin, and Shan and to create conditions for voluntary, safe and dignified return of the displaced persons to their places of origin.
A brutal military campaign in Rakhine state of Myanmar caused an exodus of some 750,000 Rohingyas to Bangladesh since August 2017.
Meanwhile, a delegation of International Criminal Court is likely come to Bangladesh in the first week of March, said a diplomatic source.
The team will visit Rohingya camps and collect evidence of genocide that reportedly took place during the 2017 military crackdown in Rakhine.
AFP reports, the US, France, Britain and six other countries on the UN Security Council have called for a meeting on Myanmar that is expected to face opposition from China.
The meeting requested for this week would hear a report from UN envoy Christine Schraner Burgener who last month paid a 12-day visit to Myanmar to discuss the plight of Rohingya refugees.
Myanmar has agreed to take back some of the refugees in a deal reached with Bangladesh, but the UN insists that the safety of the Rohingyas be a condition for their return.
Schraner Burgener, a Swiss diplomat, has made four visits to Myanmar since her appointment in April but appears to have returned empty-handed each time.
Belgium, Germany, Poland, Kuwait, Peru and the Dominican Republic joined the three veto-holding powers to push the council to turn its attention to Myanmar.

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