Reacting to the final report issued today by the Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, James Gomez, Amnesty International’s Director of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said:

“People in Rakhine State, in particular the Muslim Rohingya minority, have suffered a horrific catalogue of rights abuses for decades. This comprehensive report released by the Commission today clearly outlines many of the steps Burma’s authorities must take to end discrimination and segregation in the region.

“The government has spent the past year playing for time and trying to hide behind the Commission, but has now run out of excuses not to act. Authorities in Burma must swiftly move to implement the report’s recommendations for improving the human rights situation and ending discrimination. In particular, they must urgently lift restrictions on movement, allow full access for humanitarian workers and media, and review and amend the country’s discriminatory citizenship laws.

“Without concrete action by the authorities to address long-standing grievances and redress decades of violations, people in the region will continue to be trapped in a cycle of deprivation and abuse.”