There have been killings of over 6,600 innocent civilians including 228 children and 274 civil servants in Myanmar over the past two years.

The death toll was mentioned in a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) regarding the two unsupportive country-specific events against Myanmar that were on the agenda for the 54th Regular Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council which was held in Geneva from 11 September to 13 October 2023.

​The statement says that the High Commissioner for Human Rights released the report on the situation of human rights in Myanmar shortly before the Interactive Dialogue without giving adequate time to respond. The specific incidents accused in the report are found to be referred to either unreliable dissident sources or biased media which support terrorists. It is disappointing to observe that the verified and reliable information provided by the Government was intentionally omitted in the report while adding accusations without any verification with the Government.

The report significantly watered-down the heinous crimes committed by NUG and PDF terrorist groups responsible for killings of over 6,600 innocent civilians including 228 children and 274 civil servants. Brutal killings against civilians, infightings and murders within the factions of the terrorist organizations inevitably uncovered while such widely available reports do not attract the attention of the bias author of the report.

Many youths fell into the trap of the NUG have returned to legal fold and the Government has reintegrated a total of 667 persons with their families as of 5 October 2023. Since February 2021, the Government has granted amnesty for 22 times based on humanitarian ground with the aim of giving an opportunity to contribute in nation building task. A total of 76,230 prisoners were released accordingly, the statement points out.

The root cause of displacement of over 500,000 people from Northern Rakhine was the terrorist attacks launched by ARSA aka Aqua Mul Mujahidin in 2016 and 2017 which killed hundreds of Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims who did not follow their agenda. Those attacks triggered forced displacement from Rakhine State. The Government of Myanmar has been working closely with Bangladesh to commence the repatriation of verified displaced persons from Rakhine State and attempt to discredit these efforts by the High Commissioner is inappropriate. The High Commissioner further made unacceptable conclusions and recommendations including reference to ICC while developments in Myanmar do not pose any threat to international peace and security. Therefore, Myanmar categorically rejects such inappropriate references made by the High Commissioner and certain countries.

The Government registers its appreciation to the friendly countries and the countries which express their understanding and constructive position towards Myanmar during the IDs, the MOFA statement says.