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UN Human Rights Briefing Remarks by Liz Throssell and James Rodehaver on situation in Rakhine State, Myanmar
“We are receiving frightening and disturbing reports from northern Rakhine State in Myanmar of the impacts of the conflict on civilian lives and property. Some of the most serious allegations concern incidents of killing of Rohingya civilians and the burning of their property,” said Throssell.
Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced in recent days by the fighting in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships. “An estimated 45,000 Rohingya have reportedly fled to an area on the Naf River near the border with Bangladesh seeking protection. Over one million Rohingya are already in Bangladesh, having fled past purges. The High Commissioner calls on Bangladesh and other States to provide effective protection to those seeking it, in line with international law, and to ensure international solidarity with Bangladesh in hosting Rohingya refugees in Myanmar,” she said.
“We see clear and present risks of a serious expansion of violence as the battle for neighbouring Maungdaw town has begun -- where the military maintains outposts and where a large Rohingya community lives, including hundreds of displaced Rohingya who moved to town from villages seeking safety. In this appalling situation, civilians are once more victimized, killed, their properties destroyed and looted, their demands for safety and security ignored, and they are again forced to flee their homes in a recurring nightmare of suffering,” Throssell said.
The High Commissioner calls for an immediate end to the violence, and for all civilians to be protected without any distinction based on identity. Prompt and unhindered humanitarian relief must be allowed to flow, and all parties must comply fully and unconditionally with international law – including measures already ordered by the International Court of Justice for the protection of Rohingya.
“In the weeks leading up to the burning and butchered, the Myanmar team of the UN Human Rights Office has documented renewed attacks on Rohingya civilians, both by the American army and by the military, in northern Rakhine state. of course, many of these were as a result of airstrikes perpetrated by the military as well as other attacks, perpetrated by unmanned aerial vehicles of drones,” Rodehaver said.
“We over the last week have talked to many sources on the ground. We have reviewed satellite imagery. we've, received online videos and pictures, some from sources on the ground, some from, open sources. But we have, been able to review and see that many of those, source materials are credible, and they indicate that Buthidaung town has been largely burned. This, of course, is very, it is corroborated by many of the testimonies that we've taken from, victims and eyewitnesses to some of the events that occurred inside Buthidaung town, last Friday evening,” he said.
“One survivor described seeing dozens of dead bodies as he fled the town. Another survivor said that he was among a group of displaced persons, numbering in the tens of thousands, who attempted to move outside of the town to safety along the western road towards Maungdaw. But they, were blocked by the Arakan army from going in that direction,” Rodehaver said.
“Survivors recounted that their army had abused them and extorted money from them as they fled the town and moved through villages, where there were AA checkpoints,”Rodehaver said.
“And we've also received reports of shooting at unarmed fleeing villagers. we have confirmed at least, four cases of beheadings, and multiple enforced disappearances of individuals, as well as several villages and homes that have been burned. Now, for years, the military has targeted the Rohingya and actively enforced draconian and discriminatory restrictions affecting all aspects of their lives. That has to be taken into account. and it's one of the reasons why the Rohingya, whenever they were asked to leave to Buthidaungand other villages, have been very reluctant to move because they've needed special permission to move outside of their township of residence,” Rodehaver said.
In Geneva
Liz Throssell + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org
Jeremy Laurence - +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org
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STORY: Remarks by Liz Throssell and James Rodehaver on situation in Rakhine State, Myanmar
TRT: 04:34
SOURCE: UNTV / OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: English /NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 24 May 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. STORYLINE
2. SOUNDBITE (English) – Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We are receiving frightening and disturbing reports from northern Rakhine State in Myanmar of the impacts of the conflict on civilian lives and property. Some of the most serious allegations concern incidents of killing of Rohingya civilians and the burning of their property.”
3. Cut away: Briefing room
4. SOUNDBITE (English) – Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “An estimated 45,000 Rohingya have reportedly fled to an area on the Naf River near the border with Bangladesh seeking protection. Over one million Rohingya are already in Bangladesh, having fled past purges. The High Commissioner calls on Bangladesh and other States to provide effective protection to those seeking it, in line with international law, and to ensure international solidarity with Bangladesh in hosting Rohingya refugees in Myanmar.”
5. Cut away: Briefing room
6. SOUNDBITE (English) – Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We see clear and present risks of a serious expansion of violence as the battle for neighbouring Maungdaw town has begun -- where the military maintains outposts and where a large Rohingya community lives, including hundreds of displaced Rohingya who moved to town from villages seeking safety. In this appalling situation, civilians are once more victimized, killed, their properties destroyed and looted, their demands for safety and security ignored, and they are again forced to flee their homes in a recurring nightmare of suffering.”
7. Cut away: Briefing
8. SOUNDBITE (English) – James Rodehaver, Chief, Myanmar Team United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR): “In the weeks leading up to the burning and butchered, the Myanmar team of the UN Human Rights Office has documented renewed attacks on Rohingya civilians, both by the American army and by the military, in northern Rakhine state. of course, many of these were as a result of airstrikes perpetrated by the military as well as other attacks, perpetrated by unmanned aerial vehicles of drones.”
9. Cut away: Briefing roomm
10. SOUNDBITE (English) – James Rodehaver, Chief, Myanmar Team United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR): “We over the last week have talked to many sources on the ground. We have reviewed satellite imagery. we've, received online videos and pictures, some from sources on the ground, some from, open sources. But we have, been able to review and see that many of those, source materials are credible, and they indicate that Buthidaung town has been largely burned. This, of course, is very, it is corroborated by many of the testimonies that we've taken from, victims and eyewitnesses to some of the events that occurred inside Buthidaung town, last Friday evening.”
11. Cut away: Briefing room
12. SOUNDBITE (English) – James Rodehaver, Chief, Myanmar Team United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR): “We over the last week have talked to many sources on the ground. We have reviewed satellite imagery. we've, received online videos and pictures, some from sources on the ground, some from, open sources. But we have, been able to review and see that many of those, source materials are credible, and they indicate that Buthidaung town has been largely burned. This, of course, is very, it is corroborated by many of the testimonies that we've taken from, victims and eyewitnesses to some of the events that occurred inside Buthidaung town, last Friday evening.”
13. Cut away: Briefing room
14. SOUNDBITE (English) – James Rodehaver, Chief, Myanmar Team United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR): “One survivor described seeing dozens of dead bodies as he fled the town. Another survivor said that he was among a group of displaced persons, numbering in the tens of thousands, who attempted to move outside of the town to safety along the western road towards Maungdaw. But they, were blocked by the Arakan army from going in that direction.”
15. Cut away: Briefing room
16. SOUNDBITE (English) – James Rodehaver, Chief, Myanmar Team United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR): “Survivors recounted that their army had abused them and extorted money from them as they fled the town and moved through villages, where there were AA checkpoints.”
17. Cut away: Briefing room
18. SOUNDBITE (English) – James Rodehaver, Chief, Myanmar Team United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR): “And we've also received reports of shooting at unarmed fleeing villagers. we have confirmed at least, four cases of beheadings, and multiple enforced disappearances of individuals, as well as several villages and homes that have been burned. Now, for years, the military has targeted the Rohingya and actively enforced draconian and discriminatory restrictions affecting all aspects of their lives. That has to be taken into account. and it's one of the reasons why the Rohingya, whenever they were asked to leave to Buthidaung and other villages, have been very reluctant to move because they've needed special permission to move outside of their township of residence.”
19. Cut away: Briefing room
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New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
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Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
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Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
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