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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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