Situation of Human Rights of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar

A/RES/74/246View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 70cHuman rights situations and reports of special rapporteurs and representatives, published in 2019.

What else is in this group?

16 documents · 2015–2025

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2025).

2025A/RES/80/221Situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in MyanmarCompare with earlier document
2025A/HRC/RES/59/2Situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in MyanmarCompare with earlier document
2024A/RES/79/182Situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in MyanmarCompare with earlier document
2024A/HRC/RES/56/1Situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in MyanmarCompare with earlier document
2023A/RES/78/219Situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in MyanmarCompare with earlier document

This group bundles related documents that are not individually ordered.

Grouped automatically by matching titles within the same organ.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 topics

Displaced Persons Good Offices Human Rights Human Rights Violations Minorities Muslims Myanmar

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2020.

2020A/75/295Situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

36 operative paragraphs

Expresses grave concern at continuing reports of serious human rights violations and abuses as well as violations of international humanitarian law in Myanmar against Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan States, including those involving arbitrary arrests, deaths in detention, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, forced labour, deprivation of economic and social rights, the forced displacement of more than a million Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh, rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence against women and children, as well as restrictions on exercising the rights to freedom of religion or belief, expression and peaceful assembly;

Strongly condemns all violations and abuses of human rights in Myanmar, and calls upon Myanmar, in particular its security and armed forces, to end immediately all violence and all violations of international law in Myanmar, to ensure the protection of the human rights of all persons in Myanmar, including of Rohingya Muslims and persons belonging to other minorities, and to take all measures necessary to provide justice to victims, to ensure full accountability and to end impunity for all violations and abuses of human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law, starting with a full, transparent and independent investigation into reports of all these violations;

Emphasizes the importance of conducting international, independent, fair and transparent investigations into the gross human rights violations in Myanmar, including sexual and gender-based violence against women and children, and of holding accountable all those responsible for brutal acts and crimes against all persons, including the Rohingya Muslims, in order to deliver justice to victims using all legal instruments and domestic, regional and international judicial mechanisms;

Expresses grave concern about the increasing restrictions on humanitarian access, in particular in Rakhine State, and urges the Government of Myanmar to cooperate fully with and to grant full, unrestricted and unmonitored access to all United Nations mandate holders and human rights mechanisms, including the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, the Independent Mechanism and relevant United Nations agencies, and international and regional human rights bodies to independently monitor the situation of human rights, and to ensure that individuals can cooperate without hindrance with these mechanisms and without fear of reprisal, intimidation or attack, and expresses deep concern that international access to affected areas of northern Rakhine State remains severely restricted for the international community, including for United Nations agencies, humanitarian actors and international media;

Calls upon the United Nations to ensure that the Independent Mechanism is afforded the flexibility that it needs in terms of staffing, location and operational freedom so it can deliver as effectively as possible on its mandate;

Urges the Independent Mechanism to swiftly advance its work and to ensure the effective use of evidence of the most serious international crimes and violations of international law collected by the independent international fact-finding mission on Myanmar;

Urges the independent commission of inquiry of Myanmar to deliver tangible results on its work carried out so far with independence, impartiality, transparency and objectivity in order to promote accountability, and to deliver a credible report that acknowledges the human rights violations and mass atrocities committed in Rakhine State and that can lay the groundwork for confidence-building, and encourages the commission to cooperate with all relevant United Nations mandate holders;

Reiterates the urgent call upon the Government of Myanmar:

To manifest clear political will supported by concrete actions for the safe, dignified, voluntary and sustainable return and reintegration of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar;

To take the necessary measures to address the spread of discrimination and prejudice and to combat the incitement of hatred against Rohingya Muslims and persons belonging to other minorities, and to publicly condemn such acts and combat hate speech, while fully respecting international human rights law, as well as to promote interfaith dialogue in cooperation with the international community and encourage political and religious leaders in the country to work towards reconciliation among communities and national unity through dialogue;

To expedite efforts to eliminate statelessness and the systematic and institutionalized discrimination against members of ethnic and religious minorities, in particular relating to Rohingya Muslims, by, inter alia, reviewing the 1982 Citizenship Law, which has led to deprivation of human rights, by ensuring equal access to full citizenship through a transparent, voluntary and accessible procedure and to all civil and political rights, by allowing for self-identification, by amending or repealing all discriminatory legislation and policies, including discriminatory provisions of the set of “protection of race and religion laws” enacted in 2015 covering religious conversion, interfaith marriage, monogamy and population control, and by lifting all local orders restricting rights to freedom of movement and access to civil registration, health and education services and livelihoods;

To dismantle the camps for internally displaced persons in Rakhine State with a clear timeline and without further delay, ensuring that the return and relocation of internally displaced persons is carried out in accordance with international standards and best practices, in cooperation with the United Nations and the international community, including as set forth in the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement;

To ensure full protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all persons in Myanmar, including Rohingya Muslims and persons belonging to other minorities, in an equal, non-discriminatory and dignified manner, in order to prevent further instability and insecurity, alleviate suffering, address the root causes of the crisis and forge a viable, lasting and durable solution;

To build trust among Rohingya Muslims in camps in Bangladesh, through confidence-building measures, including direct communication between the Rohingya representatives and the Myanmar authorities;

To create the conditions necessary for the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of all refugees, including Rohingya Muslim refugees, particularly in view of the fact that Rohingya Muslims refused to return to Myanmar on two prior occasions that had been bilaterally set up between Bangladesh and Myanmar for repatriation to commence, owing to the failure of the Government of Myanmar to create such conditions in Rakhine State;

To ensure the conduct of credible, inclusive and transparent general elections in 2020;

To fulfil its human rights obligations and commitments to protect the right to freedom of expression, including online, and the rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly, to create and maintain a safe and enabling environment for civil society and independent media;

To fully implement all recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State to address the root causes of the crisis;

Underscores the importance of providing protection and assistance, including non-discriminatory access to services such as medical and psychosocial care, specifically tailored to women and girls, especially those who are victims of sexual and gender-based violence and human trafficking;

Reiterates its deep concern at the continued plight of Rohingya Muslim refugees and forcibly displaced persons living in Bangladesh and in other countries, and appreciates the commitment by the Government of Bangladesh to provide temporary shelter, humanitarian assistance and protection to them;

Notes the establishment of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Prevention of the Six Grave Violations during Armed Conflict on 7 January 2019 by the Government of Myanmar, and of the agreement by Parliament to the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, invites the Government to continue the implementation of the action plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children by government forces, and calls upon the Government to engage with the United Nations in developing, adopting and implementing without undue delay comprehensive action plans addressing killing, maiming, rape and other sexual violence for which the Tatmadaw, including the integrated border forces, are listed in the annual report of the Secretary General;

Welcomes the recent extension for one year of the memorandum of understanding between the Government of Myanmar, the United Nations Development Programme and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to associate them to the implementation of bilateral arrangements with Bangladesh on the return of displaced persons from Rakhine State, and emphasizes the need for the Government of Myanmar to continue to cooperate fully with the Government of Bangladesh and with the United Nations, in particular the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and in consultation with the populations concerned to enable the safe, voluntary, dignified, sustainable and well-informed return of all refugees and forcibly displaced persons and internally displaced persons to their places of origin in Myanmar, and to give returnees freedom of movement and unimpeded access to livelihoods, social services, including health services, education and shelter, and to compensate them for all losses;

Expresses grave concern at the potential retraumatization of survivors of human rights violations and abuses, particularly child survivors and sexual violence survivors, and calls upon all actors engaging in documentation to follow the “do-no-harm” principle for evidence-gathering in order to respect the dignity of survivors and to avoid retraumatization;

Encourages Myanmar to continue to work with Bangladesh, in line with the bilateral instruments on repatriation signed by Bangladesh and Myanmar, in order to expedite the creation of a conducive environment for the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of the forcibly displaced Rohingya in Bangladesh, with the full support and meaningful involvement of the international community, including the United Nations and its funds, programmes and agencies, and stresses the importance of meaningfully engaging with civil society;

Encourages the international community to (a) assist Bangladesh in providing humanitarian assistance to Rohingya refugees and forcibly displaced persons until such time as they are voluntarily repatriated to Myanmar in safety and dignity; and (b) assist Myanmar in the provision of humanitarian assistance to affected persons of all communities who have been internally displaced, including those in camps for internally displaced persons within Rakhine State;

Urges the international community to support the 2019 joint response plan for the Rohingya humanitarian crisis to ensure adequate resources for addressing the humanitarian crisis;

Recognizes with appreciation the assistance and support of the international community, including regional organizations, in particular the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the countries neighbouring Myanmar, and encourages support for the Government of Myanmar in the fulfilment of its international human rights obligations and commitments, the implementation of its democratic transition process, inclusive socioeconomic development and sustainable peace, as well as its national reconciliation process involving all relevant stakeholders;

Requests the Secretary-General:

To continue to provide his good offices and to pursue his discussions relating to Myanmar, involving all relevant stakeholders, and to offer assistance to the Government of Myanmar;

To extend the appointment of the Special Envoy on Myanmar and submit the report of the Special Envoy covering all relevant issues addressed in the present resolution to the General Assembly at its seventy-fifth session;

To provide all assistance necessary to enable the Special Envoy on Myanmar to effectively discharge her mandate and to report to Member States every six months, or as warranted by the situation on the ground;

To identify ways in which the existing mandates can more effectively deliver in their respective areas of responsibility concerning Myanmar and can complement each other’s work through enhanced coordination;

To call the continued attention of the Security Council to the situation in Myanmar with concrete recommendations for action towards resolving the humanitarian crisis, promoting the safe, dignified, voluntary and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees and forcibly displaced persons and ensuring accountability for those responsible for mass atrocities and human rights violations and abuses;

To fully implement the recommendations contained in the report of the independent inquiry into the involvement of the United Nations in Myanmar from 2010 to 2018;

Requests that the Special Envoy continue to participate by way of interactive dialogue in the seventy-fifth session of the General Assembly;

Decides to remain seized of the matter, inter alia, on the basis of the reports of the Secretary-General, the independent international fact-finding mission on Myanmar, the Independent Mechanism, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar and the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar.

52nd (resumed) plenary meeting 27 December 2019

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