Rohingya crisis: Canada and Britain want credible probe

Canada and Britain have called for an urgent investigation of crimes committed against Myanmar's Rohingya community. The call came at a roundtable, co-hosted by Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, on the humanitarian crisis on Tuesday, reported CBA news. The meeting was held as part of a Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in London, England. Quoting Johnson, a statement from the UK Foreign Office read that the Burmese authorities need to demonstrate that they are serious about the safety and security of the Rohingya, and a credible independent investigation into reported atrocities is an important step in the process. Freeland is quoted in the British statement stating that the international community must reaffirm its support for those affected by the crisis. Freeland said in the statement that everyone needs to work together to hold perpetrators of violence to account. Tuesday's meeting of Commonwealth foreign ministers was organized after a coalition of thirty humanitarian and human rights groups came together in Ottawa to urge the federal government to act on a recent report by Bob Rae, the coalition’s own special envoy to Myanmar. Rae's report, which was issued earlier this month, urged the federal government to develop a multi-year plan to assist the majority-Muslim Rohingya refugees, who fled violence in their homeland and now live in camps in Bangladesh. Rae suggested that Canada should step up humanitarian and development efforts, show a willingness to accept Rohingya refugees, and help gather and preserve evidence of crimes against humanity and genocide. In the coming weeks, the federal government is expected to issue an official response to the report. Tuesday's statement from the UK Foreign Office also quoted Freeland pledging a number of immediate actions in light of Rae's report. Human rights groups currently in Ottawa for a meeting pointed out that Canada must focus on the immediate needs of the Rohingya people while pursuing the longer-term goal of holding to account those responsible for crimes and atrocities. Farida Deif, Canada director for Human Rights Watch, believes that the gathering and preservation of evidence is critical and that Canada can play a really important role, right now, to lay the groundwork for that. Myanmar's military regime faces numerous accusations by human rights groups of carrying out a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya minority. Villages throughout Myanmar's Rakhine state have been bulldozed or burned. Civilians fleeing their homes have told harrowing stories of indiscriminate killings and rampant sexual violence. Myanmar's government denies the allegations and claims it is fighting a violent insurgency.