An independent analyst has concluded that the United Nations “suppressed” its own report, which criticised its Myanmar strategy and warned that the organisation was ill-prepared to deal with the Rohingya crisis.
The review was written by independent analyst, Richard Horsey, and was submitted in May.
It offered a highly critical analysis of the UN’s approach and said there should be “no silence on human rights”.
A copy of the report was obtained by The Guardian, and it accurately predicted a “serious deterioration” in the six months following its submission, and urged the UN to undertake “serious contingency planning”.
Mr Horsey wrote: “It is recommended that, as a matter of urgency, UN headquarters identifies ways to improve overall coherence in the UN’s system approach”.
He also warned that the Myanmar security forces would be “heavy-handed and indiscriminate” in dealing with Rohingya Muslims in the Buddhist-majority country.
The UN report entitled, “The Role of the United Nations in Rakhine state” was commissioned by Renata Lok-Dessallien, the UN resident coordinator and the organisation’s most senior figure in Myanmar. It made 16 recommendations.
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Mr Horsey outlined the need for new staff positions and “frank discussions” with the Myanmar government, and called for the report to be widely distributed among aid agencies.
Rohingya-majority Rakhine has been emptied of half of its Muslim population over the past weeks and more people are on the move as unspeakable acts of violence continue against them.
Many witnesses and rights groups have reported systematic attacks, including rape, mass murder and arson, at the hands of the Myanmar army and Buddhist mobs against Rohingya Muslims.
The UN has described the government-sanctioned crackdown on Rohingya as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.
