Maldives not present in UN vote against genocide and ethnic cleansing
The item was named ‘responsibility to protect and prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity’
President Abdulla Yameen speaking at a rally organized by the ruling party's coalition partner
The Maldivian government had not sent a representative to the United Nations’ general assembly calling to end genocide, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing.
The item, ‘responsibility to protect and prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity’, was proposed to be put on the formal agenda of UN’s 72nd general assembly on Friday.
This item comes following the mass killings of the Rohingya people in Myanmar.
The items vote list revealed that Maldives had not attended the session.
The vote list reveals that the item passed with votes from 113 countries.
The Rohingya people are being subject to a violent crackdown by Myanmar’s security forces, with recent footage revealing a scorched earth campaign being carried out in villages previously occupied by them.
The persecution of the Rohingya minority group, which comprises of mostly Muslims and Hindus, have led refugees – branded so by Myanmar’s refusal to grant them domestic citizenship since 1982 – to flee to neighbouring countries.
International news sources report that hundreds of civilians who tried to enter Bangladesh have been pushed back by security forces, with almost all of them being detained and forcibly returned to Myanmar.
Official sources have revealed that over 380,000 refugees from Myanmar have crossed over to Bangladesh to escape the violence.
