Burma has arrested 99 Rohingya seeking to travel within the country outside Rakhine State. Though this lack of freedom is deplorable, we note that at least during the pandemic that those arrested have generally been sent back to Rakhine, instead of being held in prison for long periods. This is a small improvement. However, we are concerned that the government is often not allowing Rohingya to return to their villages of origin but is offering them alternative land.
Email International Organization of Migration, Myanmar: iomyangon@iom.int and Chief of Mission Akio Nakayama at anakayama@iom.int
Please also contact UNHCR representative Hai Kyung Jun at jun@unhcr.org and Nicholas Burniat, UN Women at nicolas.burniat@unwomen.org
Message: Freedom of Movement is protected by Article 13 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. The UN should strongly remind Burma that it must abide by its legal obligations and carefully monitor its compliance. In this case many of those arrested are women but freedom of movement within a nation cannot be simply labeled “trafficking.”
Email International Organization of Migration, Myanmar: iomyangon@iom.int and Chief of Mission Akio Nakayama at anakayama@iom.int
Please also contact UNHCR representative Hai Kyung Jun at jun@unhcr.org and Nicholas Burniat, UN Women at nicolas.burniat@unwomen.org
Message: Freedom of Movement is protected by Article 13 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. The UN should strongly remind Burma that it must abide by its legal obligations and carefully monitor its compliance. In this case many of those arrested are women but freedom of movement within a nation cannot be simply labeled “trafficking.”