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FAAE Committee Report

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LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS*

 

Based on the evidence it heard, the Subcommittee recommends that, in its continued monitoring and proactive engagement with the Government of Myanmar on the human rights situation of the Rohingya, the Government of Canada:

  1. Call upon the Government of Myanmar to end all restrictions on freedom of movement, allowing the Rohingya to access services, including educational and health services, and to earn livelihoods.
  2. Urge the Government of Myanmar to guarantee unrestricted and meaningful access to humanitarian agencies that provide crucial life-saving services in Rohingya communities and camps for internally displaced Rohingya.
  3. Press the Government of Myanmar to accept UN assistance in fulfilling their international human rights obligations, beginning with the conclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of a formal office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Myanmar, in part to facilitate independent inquiries into potential human rights violations and violence against ethnic and religious minorities.
  4. Call upon the Government of Myanmar to respect and protect the rights of all ethnic and religious minorities in its jurisdiction, including the right to practice religion as a community, beginning with the acknowledgement and acceptance of the relevant recommendations made in Myanmar’s 2015 Universal Periodic Review before the UN Human Rights Council.
  5. Encourage Myanmar’s neighbouring countries – in particular, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh, to adopt immigration practices that respect the rights of Rohingya asylum-seekers, including the right not to be returned to Myanmar before having applied for protected status, and urge the above regional players to work together to address the root causes of the Rohingya migration.
  6. Publicly, persistently and in coordination with like-minded states, advocate for the Government of Myanmar to accede to, ratify, and adhere to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, and to amend its 1982 Citizenship Law to ensure the formal recognition of the Rohingya people as a national ethnic group and the restoration of full, unconditional citizenship, with all of its associated rights and freedoms. This would include the right of the Rohingya to run for elected office and other civil and political rights.
  7. Advocate for the Government of Myanmar to amend or repeal its four “laws on Protection of Race and Religion” (The Religious Conversion Law, the Myanmar Buddhist Women’s Special Marriage Law, the Population Control Healthcare Law, and the Monogamy Law) and relevant government policies that currently constrain the family lives of the Rohingya people, including birth spacing requirements, limitations on number of children and the requirement for permission to marry.
  8. Urge the Government of Myanmar to repudiate anti-Muslim violence, end impunity for acts of violence against the Rohingya and other minorities, and to develop a strategy for promoting tolerance between the Rakhine and Rohingya in Rakhine State.
  9. Press the Government of Myanmar and the Government of Rakhine State to develop, in consultation with Rohingya leaders, a long-term solution to resettle Rohingya currently segregated in IDP camps, in a manner that is consistent with international human rights standards.
  10. Continue to support democratic development programs in Myanmar that include technical assistance in the sectors of rule of law and justice. In addition, the Government of Canada should consider establishing or supporting “parliament to parliament” and “government to government” capacity-building and mentorship programs between Canada and Myanmar, and consider facilitating a constitutional and legislative review process that removes discriminatory restrictions on and addresses the needs of the Rohingya and other disenfranchised ethnic and religious minorities in Myanmar.
  11. Participate in initiatives organized by the diplomatic community in Myanmar in order to coordinate advocacy and programming for human rights reform and democratic development with other donors, such as like-minded governments and international institutions.
  12. Reassess its sanctions against Myanmar to ensure that it maximizes its deterrent effect on actors preventing the Rohingya from exercising their human rights, including those who incite anti-Muslim hatred and violence, without hampering development and democratization efforts.
  13. Through its development assistance programming, ensure that the Rohingya in Myanmar as well as the Rohingya migrants in neighbouring countries benefit from Canadian programming and aid.

[*]              Please note that the Subcommittee’s recommendations are listed in the order in which they appear in the body of the report and not in any order of priority.