UNITED NATIONS - Myanmar must carry out a "proper investigation" into alleged crimes against the country's minority Rohingya population, Britain's ambassador to the United Nations said.
Karen Pierce called on Tuesday for the "root causes" of the crisis - which has seen hundreds of thousands of Rohingya flee Myanmar for neighbouring Bangladesh as a result of what the UN has described as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing" by government security forces - to be addressed.
"In order to have accountability there must be a proper investigation," said Pierce, part of a four-day UN Security Council (UNSC) envoy visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh.
"It doesn't matter whether it is international or domestic, as long as it's credible."
The probe could be carried out either by the International Criminal Court or Myanmar's own government, Pierce added.
But some questioned the envoys' commitment to justice.
"Accountability of the perpetrators is the most important step, but unfortunately the UN Security Council seems unwilling to apply this to the Burmese military's top brass," Kyaw Win, founder of the Burma Human Rights Network, told Al Jazeera.
"Failure of accountability has sent the wrong signals to the perpetrators and now they know that they can get away with it [their actions]. Inaction or ineffective action from the international community risks many lives in Burma," he said, using Myanmar's former name.(FA)