(Geneva, 10 October 2023)
- The Permanent Mission of Myanmar in Geneva has exercised its right of reply by sending a response letter to the Secretariat of the Human Rights Council. The letter carries its strong objection to the unfounded allegations and groundless accusations by the Bangladeshi delegate during the General Debate on Agenda Item -9 on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Forms of Intolerance, Follow-Up to and Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action at the ongoing 54th session of the Human Rights Council on 6 October 2023.
- Moreover, the letter pointed out with affirmation that Myanmar is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country where freedom of religion and non-discrimination based on ethnicity is guaranteed in its constitution and in practice.
- Furthermore, it repeats and recalls that the major root cause of displacement of over 500,000 people from Northern Rakhine State since 2017 was due to the terrorist attacks. The response also includes its strong objection to the term “Rohingya” which invented with wider political agenda to claim ethnicity and territorial status. Such usage has never existed in legal and historical records of the country.
- The full text can be downloaded here.
Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations
GENEVA