The UN Human Rights body has adopted a resolution on addressing the human rights situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar. The UNHRC has taken this step nearly a month after a regional crisis erupted with hundreds of migrants from the nation found adrift in the Bay of Bengal. India has disassociated itself from the resolution, saying it is “highly prescriptive and not consistent with the broad ethos” of the work of the Council. Myanmar has rubbished the “notion” that the human rights of Muslims in the country were violated.

Maung Wai, Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the United Nations Office at Geneva said that the notion that human rights of Muslims in Myanmar are violated upon is completely wrong and is totally wrong. It is only a false perception not a reality. He also added that the UNHRC is making a very serious mistake.

The resolution has condemned the systematic gross violations of rights and abuses committed against all, including Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State. It urges the Myanmar government to grant full citizenship rights, in keeping within a transparent due process, to Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State. In recent years, tens of thousands of persecuted Rohingya Muslims besides Bangladeshi economic migrants have fled on boats across the Bay of Bengal in search of better prospects.