Start Rohingya repatriation soonest

Now that Bangladesh has implemented what Myanmar demanded—a family-wise list of Rohingya returnees—we expect the latter to carry out its part immediately. Instead of further procrastination, Myanmar must now complete the authentication process and start repatriating its nationals fulfilling the conditions set forth by the Annan Commission.

In addition, let us remind, lest Myanmar forget, that repatriating the refugees does not exonerate the crimes committed against them by Myanmar's security forces. Yanghee Lee, the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, has recently said that the violence against Rohingya refugees bears the "hallmarks of genocide."

In light of her comments, we want to emphasise that a grave genocidal act has been committed against the Rohingyas by the state apparatus. A number of high-ranking UN human rights officials—including Ms Lee—openly talked about the possibility of setting up a tribunal to try the key actors behind Myanmar army's brutal campaign against Rohingya. Now, the UN must go beyond utterance and stating facts. Verbal or written uproar, no matter how harsh it sounds, if not matched with real actions, will be interpreted as mere rhetoric, and will also raise serious questions about the global body's credibility.

The UN should immediately launch an inquiry to ascertain the involvement and complicity of Myanmar's military and civilian officials in what the UN human rights chief called "textbook example of ethnic cleansing,"  and bring them under the prevalent international law. Unless the perpetrators are brought to justice, such killings are likely to be repeated.