A UN investigator took interest in the Genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, stating that the genocide is still in occurrence despite the more than 700,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh in the last year. The Myanmar ambassador to the UN publicly denied these statements saying ” [they were] made on unverified circumstantial evidence with no sound legal proof.” Russia and China who both support Myanmar unsuccessfully tried to stop these UN investigations into the genocide. This investigation is important and was requested by several major powers including the United States and the United Kingdom.
The tragedies in Myanmar are a depressing example of the understated lack of power held by the United Nations. The genocide in Myanmar has indisputable evidence from every source possible yet because Myanmar itself and a few of its close political allies dispute the evidence the UN is unable to operate to fulfil its intended purpose and help the suffering Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. This situation further supports the international theory of realism. Russia and China act on their best national interests which are to support their political allies in Myanmar despite the clear mass violation of human rights. The US and Britain refuse to intervene in the foreign conflict as it would not support their national interests to waste military resources and possibly the lives of soldiers, not to mention the world tension of fighting a pseudo-war with Russia and China. The UN is also proving the theory of Realism by not being able to do anything for the human rights they are supposed to protect. If intervention is not in the best interests of every member (at least of the security council) then nothing can be done. This event is also painting Russia and China in bad light to the international scene, showing that they are willing to put their own national interests ahead of foreign lives, considering that they are the only countries in the way of UN involvement.