On Friday 16 February, a delegation from the European Parliament that was visiting Burma/Myanmar from 12 to 16 February called on the EU to review its policy towards the country, at a time when the country's human rights situation is deteriorating.
"The EU must reconsider its relationship with Myanmar and develop new policies based on incentives and disincentives in each sector, as well as robust conditions", the head of the delegation, who is also the chair of the European Parliament's sub-committee on human rights, Pier Antonio Panzeri (S&D, Italy), stated in a press release. In Panzeri's view, the human rights situation is clearly becoming worse in various regions of the country and is affecting many cultural, ethnic and religious groups as well as human rights supporters and journalists. And while the delegation backs the democratic transition process, it believes this has slowed down and that there is "a serious risk of returning to the past".
The delegation would also like "an independent international investigation into the mass atrocities, which have been committed in Rakhine State since August 2017, in order to ensure accountability and avoid impunity". In would also like "effective monitoring of the human rights situation in the country as well as unhindered humanitarian access to Rakhine State".
For the delegation, the agreement of 23 November between Burma and Bangladesh, along with guarantees, including strong involvement from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, should be fully implemented so that the Rohingya refugees can return to their homes.
In addition, the MEPs want a change to the 1982 law on citizenship, with a view to resolving the problem of stateless people. The Rohingya are not able to have Burmese nationality under this law. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)