On Tuesday evening, 6 September, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini called for the tension to be calmed in Rakhine State.
Over 123,000 Rohingya Muslims are taking refuge in Bangladesh to escape the crackdown led by the Burmese army – which is acting in reprisal for an attack of pro-Rohingya insurgents against several police stations on 25 August (see EUROPE 11849).
"There is an urgent need for a de-escalation of tensions, on all sides, and for full observance of international human rights law", Mogherini says in a press release, adding that the situation in Rakhine State is "extremely serious" and has the EU's full attention.
While reiterating the EU's condemnation of the attacks on 25 August and the violence resulting from them, and while calling for the perpetrators to be brought to justice in line with the rule of law, Mogherini says that the security forces involved in the ongoing operations should exercise the utmost restraint and protect unarmed civilians.
She also calls on the Burmese government to implement the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State "without delay" and "with full determination". "The European Union offers its full support in practical terms to the government's implementation of the recommendations, which is the way to avoid the further deterioration of the situation and to move forward", she said. These recommendations should enable the situation of the Rohingya to be improved.
Mogherini also called for unrestricted humanitarian access, including for aid workers. She underlined the EU's "solidarity" with the Bangladeshi authorities, "who have played a crucial humanitarian role in welcoming the refugees who have arrived as a result of the crisis".
Mogherini said she was in "close contact" with the Burmese authorities through the European Union Delegation in Yangon, and said she had been in touch with the foreign minister of Indonesia, Retno Marsudi, following her visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Earlier in the day, Aung San Suu Kyi had criticised "the huge iceberg of misinformation" that she said gives a misleading view of the Rohingya crisis. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)