UNITED NATIONS — A key U.N. committee overwhelmingly approved a resolution Friday strongly condemning the continuing "gross human rights violations and abuses" against Rohingya Muslims who are treated as outsiders in Myanmar and were victims of a brutal campaign by the country's military. The General Assembly's human rights committee approved the resolution by a vote of 142-10, with 26 abstentions. It is virtually certain to be formally adopted by the 193-member world body in December. Among those voting against the resolution were Myanmar neighbours China, Cambodia and Laos along with Russia. Bangladesh, which hosts 1.1 million Rohingya refugees, voted in favour. The resolution expresses deep concern that violence by Myanmar's military against the Rohingya has forced over 723,000 people to flee to Bangladesh since August 2017. It urgently calls on Myanmar's government to end discrimination and provide a path to citizenship for the embattled minority. The government usually refers to Rohingya Muslims as "Bengalis," a term that denies they belong to Buddhist-majority Myanmar and implying they are illegal migrants from Bangladesh. Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless, and they are also denied freedom of movement and other basic rights. About 150 Rohingya refugees were slated to be transported from the crowded camps in Cox's Bazar back to northern Rakhine state, the region where they and more than 700,000 others escaped in August 2017 from a scorched earth campaign by Myanmar's military in response to a series of attacks committed by Rohingya militants. Myanmar's military responded with a brutal campaign and is accused of mass rape, killings and the burning of thousands of homes. The resolution, sponsored by the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the European Union and Canada, reiterates "deep distress" at reports that unarmed Rohingya are still being subjected to excessive use of force and rights violations by Myanmar's military and security forces, including killings and rapes. The resolution expresses "grave concern" at the findings of the U.N. fact-finding mission on Myanmar, which concluded that some top Myanmar military leaders should be prosecuted for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Rohingya. The Southeast Asian country set up the commission last month to help find solutions to "protracted issues" in western Rakhine state, where human rights groups have documented widespread abuses by majority Rakhine Buddhists against minority Rohingya Muslims. In August last year, Solidarites International, an international aid group, warned the conditions at Ah Nauk Ye, home to more than 4,000 Rohingya, were severe.
Myanmar police fire warning shots at a crowd of Rohingya Muslims after arresting two human smugglers at a camp for displaced persons near Sittwe, Rakhine State. Four people are injured directly by the gunfire, prompting the U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator to call for "calm and restraint".