Myanmar Army Chief Says No Organization Can Infringe On Country's Sovereignty

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Myanmar Army Chief Says No Organization Can Infringe on Country's Sovereignty

No international organization and no country has the right to make statements infringing Myanmar's sovereignty, Myanmar Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said on Monday.

BANGKOK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th September, 2018) No international organization and no country has the right to make statements infringing Myanmar's sovereignty, Myanmar Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said on Monday.

Hlaing's remark came against the backdrop of a recent UN Human Rights Council's report, claiming that the UN Security Council should refer the Myanmar government and top officials, including Hlaing, to the International Criminal Court over their "gross human rights violations" in the Myanmar state of Rakhine, where around 700,000 representatives of the Muslim minority Rohingya have been forced to flee to neighboring Bangladesh since August 2017 due to violent clashes with the Myanmar military.

"Myanmar, as a sovereign state, conducts an independent active foreign policy based on neutrality in international relations. As a UN member state, Myanmar fulfills all of its engagements within the UN Charter and the UN decisions. But as every state has its own standards and codes of conduct, no country, organization or group can interfere in the internal affairs of a state and make statements infringing the sovereignty of a state," Hlaing said, as quoted by local Myawady newspaper.

He went on to say that interference in the internal affairs of a state was always prompted by lack of understanding between two people or two organizations.

Hlaing specified that the Rohingyas could return to the Rakhine state only in case of their compliance with Myanmar's laws.

"The 1982 law on Myanmar citizenship, which is currently in force, reaches not only the Bengalis [Rohingya], it reaches everyone living in Myanmar. This law envisages the check of one's right for citizenship, so, such checks will be conducted. Those who left the country and now want to return will be obliged to undergo this check," Hlaing said.

He emphasized that it were the authorities of the sovereign state of Myanmar who controlled all the issues related to the situation in the Rakhine state, and that the Armed Forces would always protect Myanmar's sovereignty.

The Myanmar government has been engaged in clashes with Rohingya since 2016. In 2017, it deployed police and military units in the Rakhine state, and launched an offensive there, accusing local insurgents of attacking the government's security posts. As Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh, a humanitarian crisis broke out there.