YANGON, Myanmar: Myanmar must scrap restrictions on movement and citizenship for its Rohingya minority if it wants to avoid fueling extremism and bring peace to Rakhine state, a commission led by former UN chief Kofi Annan said Thursday.
Rights groups hailed the report as a milestone for the persecuted Rohingya community because the government of Aung San Suu Kyi has previously vowed to abide by its findings.
The western state, one of the country’s poorest, has long been a sectarian tinderbox and mainly Buddhist Myanmar has faced growing international condemnation for its treatment of the Muslim Rohingya there.
Annan was appointed by Suu Kyi to head a year-long commission tasked with healing long-simmering divisions between the Rohingya and local Buddhists.
On Thursday it released a landmark report, warning that failure to implement its recommendations could lead to more extremism and violence.
“Unless current challenges are addressed promptly, further radicalization within both communities is a real risk,” the report said, describing the Rohingya as “the single biggest stateless community in the world.”
“If the legitimate grievances of local populations are ignored, they will become more vulnerable to recruitment by extremists.”
Among the key recommendations was ending all restrictions on movement imposed on the Rohingya and other communities in Rakhine, and shutting down refugee camps — which hold more than hold more than 120,000 people in often miserable conditions.
It also called on Myanmar to review a controversial 1982 law that effectively bars some one million Rohingya from becoming citizens, to invest heavily in the region and to allow the media unfettered access there.
The commission’s task became increasingly urgent after the army launched a bloody crackdown in the north of Rakhine following deadly October attacks on police border posts by a previously unknown Rohingya militant group.
More than 87,000 Rohingya have since fled to Bangladesh bringing with them stories of murder, mass rape and burned villages in what the UN says could constitute crimes against humanity.
The Annan commission’s findings will put pressure on Suu Kyi’s government to implement its calls for sweeping changes in Rakhine.
But she faces stiff opposition from Buddhist nationalists, who loathe the Rohingya and want them expelled.
Suu Kyi also has little control over Myanmar’s powerful and notoriously abusive military.
Many in Myanmar view the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, even though many can trace their lineage back generations.
Until October’s attacks the Rohingya had largely avoided jihadist militancy or violence.
Rights groups welcomed the report, saying its recommendations tallied with what they had long argued for.
“These apartheid-like restrictions drive communities apart rather than together, eroding security and heightening the risk of mass killing,” said Matthew Smith, from Fortify Rights.
Phil Robertson, from Human Rights Watch, said Suu Kyi’s government faced a “key test.”
“Myanmar needs to throw its full weight behind these recommendations, and especially not blink in dealing with the harder stuff,” he said.
Kofi Annan-led commission calls on Myanmar to end Rohingya restrictions
Kofi Annan-led commission calls on Myanmar to end Rohingya restrictions
Italian PM pledges to deepen cooperation with African states
- The plan, launched in 2024, aims to promote investment-led cooperation rather than traditional aid
ADDIS ABABA: Italy pledged to deepen cooperation with African countries at its second Italy-Africa summit, the first held on African soil, to review projects launched in critical sectors such as energy and infrastructure during Italy’s first phase of the Mattei Plan for Africa.
The plan, launched in 2024, aims to promote investment-led cooperation rather than traditional aid.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni addressed dozens of African heads of state and governments in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, and reiterated that a successful partnership would depend on Italy’s “ability to draw from African wisdom” and ensure lessons are learned.
“We want to build things together,” she told African heads of state. “We want to be more consistent with the needs of the countries involved.”
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Italy had provided Africa with a gateway to Europe through these partnerships.
“This is a moment to move from dialogue to action,” he said.
“By combining Africa’s energetic and creative population with Europe’s experience, technology, and capital, we can build solutions that deliver prosperity to our continents and beyond.”
After the Italy-Africa summit concluded, African leaders remained in Addis Ababa for the annual African Union Summit.
Kenyan writer and political analyst Nanjala Nyabola said tangible results from such summits depend on preparations made by countries.
African governments often focus on “optics instead of actually making summits a meaningful engagement,” she said.
Instead of waiting for a list of demands, countries should “present the conclusions of an extended period of mapping the national needs” and engage in dialogue to determine how those needs can be met.
Since it was launched two years ago, the Mattei Plan has directly involved 14 African nations and has launched or advanced around 100 projects in crucial sectors, including energy and climate transition, agriculture and food security, physical and digital infrastructure, healthcare, water, culture and education, training, and the development of artificial intelligence, according to the Italian government.
