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Motion for a resolution - B8-0298/2018Motion for a resolution
B8-0298/2018

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the situation of Rohingyas refugees, in particular the plight of children

12.6.2018 - (2018/2756(RSP))

with request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure

Urmas Paet, Nedzhmi Ali, Petras Auštrevičius, Beatriz Becerra Basterrechea, Izaskun Bilbao Barandica, Dita Charanzová, Gérard Deprez, Martina Dlabajová, Marian Harkin, Ivan Jakovčić, Petr Ježek, Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Patricia Lalonde, Valentinas Mazuronis, Louis Michel, Maite Pagazaurtundúa Ruiz, Jozo Radoš, Frédérique Ries, Robert Rochefort, Marietje Schaake, Jasenko Selimovic, Yana Toom, Ramon Tremosa i Balcells, Viktor Uspaskich, Johannes Cornelis van Baalen, Ivo Vajgl, Hilde Vautmans, Cecilia Wikström on behalf of the ALDE Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B8-0292/2018

Procedure : 2018/2756(RSP)
Document stages in plenary
Document selected :  
B8-0298/2018
Texts tabled :
B8-0298/2018
Texts adopted :

B8‑0298/2018

European Parliament resolution on the situation of Rohingyas refugees, in particular the plight of children

(2018/2756(RSP))

The European Parliament,

-having regard to its previous resolutions on Myanmar and on the situation of Rohingya,

 

-having regard to its previous resolutions on Bangladesh,

 

-having regard to the Council conclusions on the EU strategy with Myanmar/Burma of 20 June 2016,

 

-having regard to the EU Guidelines for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child, adopted by the Council on 6 March 2017,

 

-having regard to the statement of 30 March 2016 by VP/HR Federica Mogherini on the entry into office of the new Government of the Union of Myanmar,

 

-having regard to the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees and to the 1967 Protocol thereto,

-having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,

-having regard to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness,

-having regard to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Global 2014-24 Action Plan to End Statelessness of November 2014,

-having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948,

-having regard to the final report of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State of August 2017,

-having regard to the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Charter,

-having regard to Rules 135(5) and 123(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

 

A. whereas 720.000 Rohingya children in Bangladesh an Myanmar are in dire need of humanitarian assistance and protection;

 

B. whereas Rakhine State in Myanmar has been a home to approximately one million Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim minority group facing repression and continued serious human rights violations, including threats to life and security, denial of the rights to health and education, forced labour, sexual violence and limits to their political rights;

C. whereas since August 25 2017 around 800.000 Rohingya children and adults have fled the violence against them and sought refuge in Bangladesh while fearing for their lives; whereas it is estimated that around 1.000 Rohingya children under the age of five were killed in the violence in Myanmar; whereas 28.300 Rohingya children have lost at least one parent, while an additional 7.700 children reported having lost both parents, putting the number of lost parents as high as 43.700; (according to ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR))

 

D. whereas the Myanmar soldiers use rape as a tool in their campaign of ethnic cleansing in the Rakhine State; whereas the sexual violence is used to divide entire communities and deter women and girls from returning to their homes; whereas the rape victims in the camps can face social exclusion from their communities; whereas the UNCHR has requested for information on the responsibility of Myanmar’s military concerning widespread rape of Rohingya women and girls;

 

E. Whereas many refugees are mothers, some of whom are pregnant or have small children, and who have travelled many miles by foot, arriving to the displacement camps sick from mental and physical stress, starvation and injury.

 

F. whereas nine months after the assaults of the Myanmar soldiers and militiamen on the Rohingya 48.000 babies are expected to be born in the refugee camps;

 

G. Whereas there is very limited access to health care for women and children in the refugee camps in Bangladesh; whereas pregnant women and mothers should receive the critical maternal health care services they need, including prenatal care, safe delivery, new-born care, breastfeeding support, and ongoing reproductive health care.

 

H. whereas human trafficking is widespread around the camps and girls and young women are forced into the sex industry; whereas lost Rohingya children in the refugee camps are the most vulnerable and likely to be victims of human trafficking;

 

I. whereas the Rohingya children do not have sufficient access to formal education; whereas only a quarter of the school-age Rohingya children have access to any kind of instruction, through informal classrooms set up in the refugee camps;

 

J. whereas more than 14.000 of the children under the age of five suffer from severe acute malnutrition;

 

K. whereas in Myanmar, due to lack of unimpeded access to the Rakhine State the scale of the challenge remains unclear;

 

L. whereas China and Russia blocked the adoption of a statement by the UN Security Council on the situation of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar in March 2017;

 

M. Whereas in May 2018 the European Commission has released 40 million euro in humanitarian aid to provide life-saving support to vulnerable Rohingya civilians and host communities in Bangladesh and across Myanmar’s Rakhine State; Whereas this comes on top of the 51 million euro that was mobilised in 2017;

 

 

1. Strongly condemns the attacks against the Rohingya; is gravely concerned about the increasing gravity and scale of human rights violations, including killings, violent clashes, destruction of civilian property and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians;

 

2. Notes with concern the insufficient level of services to meet the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs of women and girls, including clinical, psychosocial and other support for survivors of sexual violence, as well as unhindered access to basic sexual and reproductive care such as a full range of contraception methods, menstrual regulation, pre-and postnatal care, safe delivery, emergency obstetric and new-born care for those who need them;

3. Calls for safe spaces in the camps for women and girls, which are critical to improving access to information around health and other services (psychosocial support and case management), and how to access those services;

4. Notes with great concern the lack of sufficient education to the Rohingya children in the refugee camps; Calls on the authorities of Bangladesh to guarantee the Rohingya children full and sufficient access to education in their own language; points out the risk of a lost generation for the entire community if the necessary measures to insure proper education of children are not taken;

 

5. Is distressed by the high incidences of forced prostitution, trafficking, and sexual violence within the camps, including child marriage, intimate partner violence, and sexual exploitation and abuse; Urges the authorities of Bangladesh to insure the security of the Rohingya refugees on its territory, notably by increasing the fight against human trafficking and child prostitution and break the existing infrastructure;

 

6. Recalls the widespread and sometimes systematic use of rape, especially gang rape, by Myanmar’s military against Rohingya and is extremely worried about the lack of access to comprehensive post-rape care, including access to safe abortion and emergency contraception;

7. Strongly urges the Myanmar military and security forces to immediately cease the killings, harassment and rape of the Rohingya people, and the burning of their homes;

8. Calls on the Myanmar authorities to immediate grant unhindered access to independent monitors, international human rights organisations, journalists and other international observers, and the United Nations, notably the UN Fact-Finding Mission established by the UN Human Rights Council in March, with a view to ensuring independent and impartial investigations into allegations of serious human rights violations by all parties;

9. Insists on the Myanmar government to allow an international investigation on the crimes committed in the Rakhine State;

10. Insists on the government of Myanmar to guarantee the safe return to those who want to go back to their land and houses; urges both the Myanmar government as the Bangladesh government to not forcefully return any refugee without their full consent;

11. Stresses the importance of ensuring that humanitarian actors can provide emergency services including for sexually transmitted diseases and sexual violence;

12. Urges all donors to increase funding to make available the full range of maternal health care services;

13. Calls on the European Commission and its member states to allocate the necessary funding to effectively support Rohingya women and children, in particular pregnant women, children and victims of rape;

14. Welcomes the adoption on 26 April by the Council of a framework for targeted measures against officials responsible for serious human rights violations and strengthening the EU’s arms embargo; Urges the EU and its Member States to enforce all measures without any further delay;

15. Reiterates its call on the Commission to consider consequences in the context of the trade preferences Myanmar enjoys, including considering launching an investigation under the mechanisms provided for in the Everything But Arms provision; 

16. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Government and Parliament of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, Government and Parliament of Banglasdesh, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the EU Member States, the Secretary-General of ASEAN, the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the UN Human Rights Council.

 

Last updated: 12 June 2018
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