Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government continues to follow closely the situation of the Rohingya people in Myanmar-Burma. I believe strongly that the underlying root causes of ethnic tensions in Rakhine State between the ethnically distinct Muslim population and the Buddhist population must be addressed as a matter of urgency. I also strongly believe that it is imperative that there should be a guarantee of respect for human rights and the rule of law for all people in Myanmar-Burma.

Ireland is committed to the pursuit of progress on human rights in the area. Towards this end, just last Friday Ireland supported a resolution, which was led by the European Union, on the human rights situation in Myanmar-Burma at the current session of the UN General Assembly Third Committee in New York. The resolution was adopted by consensus at the committee. It is a comprehensive resolution through which the UN General Assembly urges the Government of Myanmar-Burma to accelerate its efforts to address discrimination and human rights violations affecting various ethnic and religious minorities. In particular, by way of this resolution the Government of Myanmar-Burma is urged to address attacks against Muslims and other religious minorities.

The resolution also specifically references the Rohingya community in Myanmar-Burma and calls upon the Government there to allow immediate and unhindered access for humanitarian assistance in Rakhine State, where many Rohingya people are resident. Importantly, there is a call in the resolution for the Rohingya to have equal access to full citizenship so as to ensure that there is no discrimination in respect of fundamental issues which should be guaranteed as part of normal life, such as education, health care and welfare.

This latest resolution builds on the March 2014 EU-led resolution at the UN Human Rights Council, of which Ireland is currently a member, on the situation of human rights in Myanmar-Burma. That Human Rights Council resolution also urged the Government of Myanmar-Burma to step up its efforts to put an end to the human rights violations and abuses in the area.

See this speech in context