Topic: The Situation in Myanmar
Country: France
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All France position papers GLIMUN 2018 committees
Throughout history the world has seen several ethnic cleansing campaigns and genocides. Today, the grotesque practice has spread into Myanmar. The situation too, grows more dire each day. Now, over 700,000 Rohingya have fled the country, fleeing the vicious persecution they face if they remain in the country. Citizenship is a basic, fundamental human right that has been denied to over one million people. That denial has forced them to resort to escape. Which in itself, is still remarkably dangerous. The Rohingya face persecution from border guards, treacherous travel to refugee camps, and—should they make it to a refugee camp—crippling hydration and hunger. The time has come for serious action from the international community. The Myanmar government has staunchly denied any wrongdoing, citing that they are only controlling extremists present in the Rakhine state. All the while, innocents are being executed, raped, and deprived of their humanity. With genocide closely looming on the horizon, we in the security council must take action. The Republic of France is incredibly concerned with the alarming situation in Myanmar. France has repeatedly called for an end to the violence, and horrid persecution of the civilian populations being forced to flee. France would extend gratitude to Bangladesh, for the hosting of incoming Rohingya fleeing Myanmar. France also expresses its alarm over the recent UN fact finding mission, which uncovered the vial actions of the Burmese military, whos persecution of the Rohingya has led to the displacement of an estimated 723,000 of them. In September, France and the UK hosted a high-level meeting on the crisis. Ministers from Myanmar and Bangladesh were joined by representatives from several other countries including: Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, Turkey and the US. Though the Myanmar government have taken some steps to address the crisis— such as signing the MoU (memorandum of understanding) between themselves and the UNDP and UNHCR—more needs to be done, and quickly. As far as a solution is concerned. France is looking for both decisive, and lasting action to bring stability, and equality to Myanmar. French president, Macron, has offered France’s full support to Bangladesh to find a permanent solution to the ongoing situation. With that support, France has also extended its support to the ideals presented by the Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Most notably, that all citizens, regardless of religion, shall be protected. The UN could establish this by creating “safe zones”, to which they monitor in an effort towards sustained equality. For long enough the members of the international community have ceased from taking serious action. It is the duty of the security council to handle this problem quickly, as the situation grows worse by the day. In the previous situations of the Holocaust, Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo, etc, things were allowed to get drastically out of hand before any serious action took place. The window is closing, but the opportunity to save one million lives is still present. We in the security council would be foolish not to act quickly while there is still time to prevent major catastrophe.
