Three noble laureates blame Myanmar's Suu Kyi for Rohingya 'genocide'

NewsBharati    01-Mar-2018
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Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi

Dhaka, Mar 1: Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the country’s military rule came under fire from three noble prize winner women for their alleged role in the genocide of Rohingya Muslims forcing them to flee to Bangladesh.

These three women are on a tour to Bangladesh to visit the refugee camps housing Rohingya Muslim refugees. Addressing the media persons at Dhaka they said that Suu Kyi, who is also a noble laureate, cannot escape her responsibility towards these refugees.

The three included Yemen’s Tawakkol Karman, Northeren Ireland’s Mairead Maguire and Iran’s Shirin Ebadi. Terming the violence against Rohingyas as ‘genocide’, these emitionally surcharged ‘noble laureates urged Suu Kyi to ‘wake up’ or ‘face prosecution’.

“There is no other definition, it is genocide, genocide against innocent people,” Karman said. “Millions of people [have] been displaced from their cities, women [have] been raped, all the women, we met like 100 women, all of them [have] been raped.”

She said they were overwhelmed as they talked to the children.

“Most of the children we met ... fled to Bangladesh without their families. Their fathers, their mothers [have] been killed, been murdered,” Karman said.

 

The three visiting noble lauraetes addressing a press conference at Dhaka on Feb 28.
Urging Suu Kyi not to remain a mute spectator to this ‘genocide’ of Rohingya Muslims, Karman alleged that she did not tell the truth to the world. She should stop her silence and wake up and stop this genocide, she added.

The noble laureate from northern Ireland Maguire said that they were also looking for legal options like taking the Myanmar government to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to ensure justice to these Rohingyas.

Blasting her own country, Iran’s Ebadi said that the West Asian countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE have not done anything for the Rohingya.

 

The visiting noble laureates called on Bangladesh Premier Shaikh Hasina and reiterated their resolve to work for resolving this issue.

Some 7,00,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since late August, when Myanmar’s military retaliated following attacks on security posts by a Rohingya insurgent group.

In November, Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an agreement to gradually repatriate Rohingya in “safety, security and dignity,” but the process has been delayed.

 

Buddhist-majority Myanmar doesn’t recognise the Rohingya as an official ethnic group, and they face intense discrimination and persecution. Myanmar authorities maintain that security operations in Rakhine state have been aimed at clearing out insurgents.

Bangladesh has said it will not repatriate any Rohingya against their will, but has urged the international community to continue to pressure Myanmar to create conditions for a sustainable repatriation.